Three Vincentian Judges were officially welcomed to sit on the benches of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC).

The official welcome came from Chief Justice ,Janice M. Pereira on Friday, January 12, as she delivered an address to mark the opening of the ECSC’s new Law term.

In her feature address at the ceremony in Grenada, Chief Justice Pereira extended welcome to

Vincentian Judges Sonya Young, Rickie Burnett and Rechanne Browne who are among other newly appointed judges to the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

Justice Sonya Young once served as Chief Magistrate in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

On February 15,2023, she was appointed to serve as ECSC High Court Judge in the Virgin Islands.

Justice Rickie Burnett is a former Senior Magistrate here.

His appointment as ECSC High Court Judge took effect from Monday, April 3,2023.

Justice Burnett who is assigned to St Vincent and the Grenadines, was sworn in on Wednesday April 5, 2023.

The latest appointment is that of former Chief Magistrate, Rechanne Browne.

Browne was appointed to act as ECSC High Court Judge in St Lucia from January, 8, to March 31, 2024.

Browne served this country as Chief Magistrate from 2014.

Apart from welcoming the new Judges from St Vincent and the Grenadines a welcome was also extended two recent appointments to the Court of Appeal.

This year, Justice Pereira is retiring as the longest serving Chief Justice, having served from 2012 to the present.

In her address on Friday, the retiring Chief Justice also thanked the Canadian government and the Jurist Project for providing a suitable home for the National Mediation Committee in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

She explained that criminal mediation is aimed at reducing criminal backlogs, mainly at the level of the Magistracy.

Among other things, it is also aimed at incorporating alternative sentencing measures to further enhance the delivery of criminal justice within the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court system.

Friday’s official opening ceremony was held in Grenada and streamed live throughout the OECS Member States and Territories. Here in SVG, members of the legal fraternity attended worship at the Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption in Kingstown before processing to the High Court building for the formal, streamed proceedings of the court.