Former registrar disbarred from Bar of England and Wales

Former Registrar of the High Court Vanessa Tamara Gibson-Marks has now also been disbarred from the Bar of England and Wales.

Gibson-Marks was thrown out of the law profession by an independent disciplinary tribunal during a hearing held on Monday, January 16, 2017 in the United Kingdom (UK).

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) reported on their website that Gibson-Marks, a St Vincent and the Grenadines-based unregistered barrister was ordered to be disbarred, following charges brought by the BSB.

Tamara Gibson-Marks was also in February 2016 disbarred from practising law in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) after she was convicted of the theft of $21,925 Eastern Caribbean Dollars.

She was also convicted of an arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of another person, when she requested that a bank account for the benefit of another be closed. This occurred while she was appointed as a trustee of the account as the Registrar of the High Court.

BSB director of Professional Conduct Sara Jagger said: “A conviction for theft and acting prejudicially to the rights of another person is incompatible with membership of the Bar. The standards of professional conduct for barristers called to the Bar of England and Wales apply no matter where you are in the world. The tribunal’s decision to disbar Mrs Gibson-Marks reflects the gravity of her actions.”

Gibson-Marks was also fined £500 for not informing the BSB of her criminal convictions, as she was required to do under BSB rules. She has never held a practising certificate in England and Wales.

Gibson-Marks was called to the Bar by Lincoln’s Inn in July 2000. She became a member of the St Lucia Bar and the St Vincent Bar in 2002. The relevant jurisdictions have been informed of the Tribunal’s decision.

Gibson-Marks now resides in St Lucia, having left St Vincent and the Grenadines on resigning her post in 2015.