A prominent Vincentian has been elected to chair the Trust Fund of the Caribbean Court of Justice.{{more}}

On Tuesday, at a meeting held in Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Linton Lewis was elected chairman of the Board of Trustees for a three-year term, replacing former chairman Dr Rollin Bertrand.

Lewis, who is a barrister-at-law and a chartered accountant, has been sitting on the Board of Trustees as a nominee of the president of the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL) since December 2009, when his name was put forward to the CCL, by president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Public Service Union (PSU) Cools Vanloo.

Christine Sahadeo, who represents the University of the West Indies, was elected vice chair of the Board at Tuesday’s meeting. She is also a barrister-at-law and a chartered accountant.

The new chairman of the Trust Fund brings to the post an impressive list of accomplishments. In addition to his professional achievements, Lewis is chairman of the Opposition New Democratic Party, president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Bar Association, and a senator in the House of Assembly. He has also represented St Vincent and the Grenadines in cricket and football, and the Windwards and Combined Islands in cricket.

Prior to the CCJ being set up in 2005, concerns were expressed that if the judges of the Court were paid by Caribbean governments, heads of government could possibly exert decisive informal pressure on them to deliver judgements favourable to one government or the other. In order to pre-empt that eventuality and fund the Caribbean Court of Justice in perpetuity, a Trust Fund of US $100 million was established, so as to enable the expenditures of the Court to be financed by income from the Fund.

The Board of Trustees of the CCJ is responsible for directing the operations of the Fund.

In addition to Lewis and Sahadeo, the other Trustees are Dr Rollin Bertrand (former chairman) who represents the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce; the Honourable Mr Justice Ivor Archie, Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago; Oswald Barnes, CARICOM representative; Harryram Parmesar, president of the Caribbean Institute of Chartered Accountants; Wilfred Abrahams of the Organisation of Commonwealth Caribbean Bar Associations; Carole Eleuthere-Jn Marie of the Caribbean Association of Indigenous; Banks and Gerry Brooks of the Insurance Association of the Caribbean.