From resident magistrate to president

Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop, the first woman to be appointed as president of the Court of Appeal, has declared that she is ready for the job.

McDonald-Bishop was sworn in on Thursday by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, in a ceremony at King’s House in St Andrew.

During her remarks, she disclosed that she was nervous about her new appointment.

“I harbour some apprehension, though. Everybody [is] celebrating me, but I am nervous about the job that lies ahead because justice is not easy,” McDonald-Bishop said. “I know I’ve sacrificed much for the service of my people.”

In preparation for the new appointment after being informed of her selection by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, McDonald-Bishop said Chief Justice Bryan Sykes instructed her to explore artificial intelligence (AI) to see how it can be incorporated into the justice system.

“It’s because he wants to introduce it in the judiciary, [so] I’m testing it out, and I put in, ‘What makes a good judicial leader?’ and I got many features of who is a good judicial leader, and all I can say today is that I am going to adopt them all and utilise them and see where it leads me,” she said.

She said she will mull over AI responses on how to create a model justice system, to ensure this is achieved during her tenure.

“This one is key: building strong relationships with other branches of government and the legal community. So, as I leave here today, I intend to collaborate with the executive so that the judiciary – the third arm of government – can take its rightful place in the governance of this country,” she said.

McDonald-Bishop, who added that she intends to be a visionary, saluted her predecessors who paved the way and prepared her “for this mission”.

McDonald-Bishop’s career in law started at the Half-Way Tree Resident Magistrate’s Court and she moved up the ranks over the last four decades.

“When I dropped out of The University of the West Indies in 1986 because I couldn’t afford the cess that they had imposed, in 1989, I resumed because Carolyn Reid Cameron told me, ‘You have no ambition. You need to go back to the university. You are bright. You are wasting your time’, and I thank her for it because I stand here today because of such encouragement,” McDonald-Bishop said.

“I thank you all for grounding me and giving me the humility that has taken me here,” she said.

The St Mary native said she has no regrets about moving to the capital city in 1985 to start her career at the Half-Way Tree court.

“It is with mixed humility and pride that I accept this appointment. I accept this appointment because it’s on merit – recognised merit,” McDonald-Bishop said.

She then continued, “May I say this? Nobody here can stop me, not even the governor general, I think, because I’m supposed to be, they say, the highest-ranking judge in the highest court on the land.”

She then thanked Holness and Opposition Leader Mark Golding for agreeing to nominate her to Sir Patrick for her appointment.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com