Lewis returned as Chairman of the CCJ Trust Fund for 4th consecutive term

DR LINTON A Lewis was today, Monday, April 25 nominated unopposed to the position of Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Caribbean Court of Justice Trust Fund (CCJTF).

This will be Lewis’s fourth three-year term in the position, he having first been elected Chairman in 2013 to replace Dr Rollin Bertrand of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Chairman and Vice Chairman by law are elected to serve for a period of three years after which those positions become vacant and elections are held to fill those vacancies. In 2016, no one opposed Lewis for the position of Chairman but on April 8, 2019, he was challenged by Ramesh Dookhoo of Guyana.

At today’s meeting he was nominated unopposed.

The CCJTF was established by law in all CARICOM countries to finance the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) into perpetuity.

In an effort to avoid and remove any perception that the Judges of the CCJ were appointed and financed by politicians in CARICOM, the Regional and Judicial Legal Services Commissions (RJLSC) was established to appoint judges and the CCJTF was created to finance the CCJ and RJLSC. In 2005, CARICOM governments contributed $US100 million to the Fund to be invested by the Board of Trustees and to finance the capital and operating expenses of the CCJ and RJLSC.

To date, the balance of the Fund is US $86,232,627 after having spent over US $116 million to finance the operations of the CCJ, the RJLSC and the CCJTF. The Trust Fund received a return of 14 per cent on their investment for the year 2022.

Lewis, who is a Barrister- at-Law and Chartered Accountant also holds a PhD in law. He was formerly the President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Bar Association and Chairman of the New Democratic Party.

Dr Lewis has so far served nine years as Chairman of the CCJTF. He first became a member of the Board in 2010.

In July 2018, Justice Adrian Saunders, who is also a Vincentian was elevated to the position of President of the CCJ.