Court of Appeal president calls for Bar members to become judges
Published:Monday | January 14, 2019 | 12:00 AMNickoy Wilson/Gleaner Writer
President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Dennis Morrison, has charged the Jamaican Bar Association (JAMBAR) president, Jacqueline Cummings, to encourage her members to apply for the two available judge positions in his court.
He made the call during a special sitting of the Court of Appeal on Monday to mark the beginning of the Hilary term, which runs from January to April. The session was held in one of the new state-of-the-art courtrooms on the recently expanded section of the appeal court building on King Street in downtown Kingston.
Morrison made the appeal against the backdrop of his intention to bring the court up to its full complement of 12 judges by the end of this year. Justices Nicole Foster-Pusey, Jennifer Straw and Carol Edwards were recently sworn in as appeal court judges, bringing the number of judges to 10, excluding the president.
With the addition of three judges, Morrison said that there will be three concurrent sittings of the court on any given day. He also said two judges will be in chambers on Tuesday afternoons to expedite certain matters.
Meanwhile, Cummings said she was disappointed that there was no accommodation for the public in the new courtrooms. She said she hopes that will be a consideration when designing courtrooms in the future.
Lord Anthony Gifford echoed similar sentiments. The sitting was also attended by Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn and several members of the Bar.