Caribbean jurist sits on Privy Council appeals

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For the first time in decades, a Caribbean jurist has sat on a Privy Council appeal.

On December 9, Dame Janice Pereira, former chief justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC), presided over an appeal from the Virgin Islands.

In a statement on its website, the Privy Council said Pereira will take part in case hearings before the judicial committee. She will sit on appeals from December 9-13.

“Dame Janice was invited to sit with the JCPC by Lord Reed, and this was made possible by the gracious decision of His Majesty the King to appoint Dame Janice to the Privy Council in August.

“Dame Janice is a distinguished judge who has recently retired from the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, where she was the first female Chief Justice.

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“In May 2013, she was awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”

The statement also quoted Lord Patrick Hodge, deputy president of the UK Supreme Court, who welcomed Pereira to her first appeal hearing.

“It is a matter of celebration that the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has revived the practice of having among its membership a distinguished judge from one of its jurisdictions.

“The board warmly welcomes Dame Janice as one of our number and looks forward to working with her this week and in the future.”

Born in the British Virgin Islands, Pereira attended UWI, Cave Hill Campus, where she received her law degree. She was called to the Bar in 1981 and in 2018, she was called to the bench as an honorary bencher of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, and was later a High Court judge before being appointed a Justice of Appeal in 2009.

She retired as chief justice of the ECSC in May.