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  • 7 months ago
Justice Adrian Saunders President of the Caribbean Court of Justice has retired from the CCJ having served for the entire 20-year history of the court.

He was appointed head the court from 2018, serving as its third president following Michael de la Bastide and Sir Dennis Byron.
Transcript
00:00A native of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Justice Sanders is the first citizen from the
00:05Organization of the Eastern Caribbean States to serve on the CCJ bench. His judicial career began
00:11in 1996 with his appointment to the High Court of Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. He was elevated
00:17to the Court of Appeal in 2003 and served as Acting Chief Justice from 2004 to 2005.
00:25Justice Sanders joined the CCJ as one of its inaugural judges in 2005. He became a
00:32founding member of the Caribbean Association of Judicial Officers and served as its chairman
00:38from 2009 to 2019. Since becoming President of the CCJ in 2018, he has led the Court through key
00:47strategic developments strengthening its administrative operations and expanding public engagement.
00:53As President, Sanders reflected on his decades-along career in his final address. He stated that his
00:59parents' work ethic was a driving force for his success. He asked for the Caribbean people to
01:04believe in the justice system and give it the same respect as they would as if it was any other
01:09court anywhere in the world. Look instead at the respect accorded by all CARICOM states to the
01:17judgments of the court. Look at the timely and full compliance with those judgments. Look at the regard
01:26with which they have for the intimations of the court. The CCJ is by no means perfect, but if over the last 20 years,
01:40the court had failed any of the severe challenges placed before it, we would certainly have heard it
01:48loud and clear again and again. An emotional Saunders who served on the bench for 20 years says he is
01:56satisfied with his tenure. Glowing tributes were paid to the retiring president of the CCJ by Chief Justice
02:02Archie. Incoming President Designate Justice Winston Anderson and Justice Lesley Ann Haynes from Barbados,
02:10to name a few. Chief Justice Archie in his address urged judges to emulate the example set by President
02:16Saunders. Charlotte Kisto, TV6 News.
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