Explore our National Treasures

 (Elegantly Casual, pick-up at 6:30 p.m.)

The Honourable Kenneth Benjamin and the judicial officers of Belize will host you for a “Night at the Museum.”   Come sip local blackberry sangria while you hear of the Mayan wonders of Belize from a proud son of the soil, archaeologist Dr.  John Morris. Amidst the bold beat of the drum and the smooth sound of the violin, explore the treasures of the museum and a small craft market arranged just for you.  This promises to be a cocktail reception to tastefully satisfy all five senses.

The Hon Mme Justice Desiree Bernard (Ret.)

Judge (Ret.), Caribbean Court of Justice

The Honourable Mme. Justice Désirée Bernard, citizen of Guyana, graduated with the LLB (Hons.) degree in 1963 from the University of London.  A trailblazer and maverick, she established several professional “female firsts.” First female Chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Guyana, and first in the Province of the West Indies (1994); first female High Court Judge (1980); first female Justice of Appeal (1992); first female Chief Justice of Guyana and in the Commonwealth Caribbean (1996); first female Chancellor of the Judiciary of Guyana and in the Commonwealth Caribbean (2001) and first female Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice (2005). Regionally, Mme. Justice Bernard was the founding Secretary of CARIWA (1970-1974); first President of OCCBA (1976) and Member/Chair of the Caribbean Steering Committee for Women’s Affairs, (1978).  Internationally, Mme. Justice Bernard served as both Rapporteur and Chair of the CEDAW (1982-1998). She received several awards, namely, the Cacique Crown of Honour and the Order of Roraima, Guyana’s 3rd and 2nd highest national awards.  She received the CARICOM Triennial Award for Women in 2005, and in 2007 she was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) by the University of the West Indies.  In February 2011, she was appointed a judge of the IADB Administrative Tribunal, based in Washington DC, and a Member of the Bermudian Court of Appeal (2015).

Introduction of Keynote Speaker: Friday @ 8:30 a.m.

Ms Roberta Clarke

Attorney-at-law, Trinidad and Tobago

Roberta Clarke is a human rights and social justice practitioner and advocate. She is currently the Chair of the Executive Committee of the International Commission of Jurists and the President of the Coalition against Domestic Violence, Trinidad and Tobago.  Between 2003-2017 was UN Women’s Interim Representative for Libya, Regional Director for UN Women’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific based in Thailand and the Regional Programme Director of the UNIFEM/UN Women Caribbean Office. She is a lawyer with post graduate qualifications in sociology and international human rights law/

Keynote Speaker: Friday @ 8:35 a.m.

Ms Anika Gray

Former Regional Project Coordinator and Gender Specialist, The JURIST Project

Anika Gray is an Attorney-at-law and Lecturer in the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, Mona. Anika has experience in human rights advocacy, gender and the law as well as judicial and court reform in the Commonwealth Caribbean.  While working with the Caribbean Court of Justice’s (CCJ) JURIST Project, she managed the establishment of a Sexual Offences Model Court in Antigua and Barbuda as well as spearheaded the development of Criminal Case Management Rules for Sexual Offences in the Antigua and Barbuda High Court. In this role she also provided draft recommendations to facilitate the current legislative review of the Sexual Offences Act in Antigua. She also worked with UN Women Caribbean and the CCJ’s JURIST Project   to create a Gender Equality Accountability Tool for the judiciary as well as provide gender sensitive adjudication training and develop Gender Equality Protocols for Judges and Magistrates in Belize, Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.  She is a 2014 Chevening Scholarship winner as well as a graduate of the University of the West Indies, Norman Manley Law School and the University of Oxford. 

Eliminating Gender Bias in Adjudicating: Friday @ 10:05 a.m.

The Hon Mme Justice Jacqueline Cornelius

Judge, Supreme Court of Barbados

Justice Jacqueline Cornelius was appointed as a High Court Judge Barbados in 2006 after 18 years as a practicing  attorney- at- law. She is a graduate of Queens College, and attended Faculty of Law, Cave Hill Campus, UWI,  and the Hugh Wooding Law School as a Barbados Exhibitioner.  She  was a Pegasus Commonwealth Scholar at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University, where she gained a LLM (Commercial Law). She taught full time at the Faculty of Law as the  course director for Revenue Law  and Insolvency Law,  and teaching or tutoring  family, administrative and contract for over 10 years from 1994 until shortly after her elevation to the Bench. Her commercial law expertise has been utilized on many organisations in Barbados including the Board of the Central Bank, and  Advisory Committees on International Business and mutual funds. She is currently part of the committee to reform the insolvency law legislation in Barbados. She will head the newly created Commercial Division of the High Court in Barbados. Justice Cornelius  has a deep interest in judicial education and specialist courts. As Chair of the Family Law Council since 2007, she has spearheaded the creation of the Family Court in Barbados and is overseeing the  UNICEF funded consultancy to set up the court.  She is a frequent speaker on gender, sexual harassment and family law and has presented papers both locally and regionally on these topics. As a member of the Sexual Offences Advisory Committee, and the Committee to draft the Gender Protocol for Caribbean judges, she has participated in the training of Barbadian judges in gender sensitive adjudication. She is  also the Chair of the committee tasked with setting up a sexual offences court in Barbados.

Eliminating Gender Bias in Adjudicating: Friday @ 10:05 a.m.

The Hon Mr Justice Jaap Sap

Vice-President of the Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba

After finishing his Master’s degree in law at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands, Mr Jaap Sap practiced as a lawyer in mainly civil law. In 2001 he joins the judiciary as a kantonrechter in the court of Rotterdam. In 2007 he was appointed as Vice-President in the court of first instance in Utrecht. He had several managing and advisory tasks, both locally and nationwide. He is a recognized expert in personal injury claims and has broad expertise in labor law. In 2016 Jaap was appointed as a Judge in the Joint Court of Justice and was appointed as Vice President Aruba in 2017. On January 1^st 2020 he will be a member of the Court of Appeal Arnhem-Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.

Judicial Education – Indispensable for Successful Judicial Reform: Friday @ 11:30 a.m.

The Hon Sir Dennis Byron

Former President of the Caribbean Court of Justice

Sir Charles Michael Dennis Byron of St. Kitts-Nevis graduated from Cambridge University in 1966 with M.A; LL.B. He was in private practice throughout the Leeward Islands.  In 1982 he was appointed as a Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and in 1999, was appointed Chief Justice.  During his tenure he engaged in many Judicial Reform Programs. In 2004 Sir Dennis was appointed a Judge of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).  He was elected President of the Tribunal from 2007 to 2011. Sir Dennis has been President of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute (CJEI) since 2000.  In 2004, he was appointed an Honorary Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple and holds the first Yogis & Keddy Chair in Human Rights Law at Dalhousie University. He was knighted in 2000 and was appointed a member of the Privy Council in 2004. In September 2011 The Right Honourable Sir Dennis Byron was appointed President of the Caribbean Court of Justice and demitted office in July 2018.  During his tenure at the CCJ led to the transformation of various sectors of the Court and in Caribbean jurisprudence. Sir Dennis is the Founding Member and Special Envoy, Judicial Outreach and Capacity Building for the Caribbean-based, special-purpose, non-profit agency “APEX”, that is committed to delivering technology-based solutions and services to support court ecosystems.

Judicial Education – Indispensable for Successful Judicial Reform: Friday @ 11:30 a.m.

The Hon Mme Justice Sandra Oxner

Judge (Ret.), Canada

Sandra E. Oxner is a retired Canadian judge. She has spent 46 years working in judicial education and judicial reform both in Canada and internationally. She has been President of the Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges, the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice and the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association, a founding Director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies and is the founding President of Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute. Her work in this area has been recognized in her appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada and by honorary degrees and other national and international awards and honours. One she particularly cherishes is being named an honorary judge of the Malawi Judiciary. Since her retirement from the Bench, in addition to volunteer judicial education work, she has worked as a judicial reform consultant with the World Bank, UNDP, the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, USAID, DFIT and CIDA in over 60 jurisdictions throughout the world with all legal families. She has written extensively in the field.

Judicial Education – Indispensable for Successful Judicial Reform: Friday @ 11:30 a.m.

The Hon Dame Janice Pereira, DBE

Chief Justice, Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court

Dame Janice M. Pereira, DBE, LLD was sworn in as the first female Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court on 24^th October, 2012.  She joined the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court as a High Court Judge in 2003 and later was elevated to the position of Justice of Appeal in 2009.   In May 2013 she was awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.  In March 2018, she was called to the Bench as an Honorary Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. She became a Fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute in June 2018.  The award of Honorary Doctorate of Laws was bestowed upon Dame Janice by the University of the West Indies in October, 2018, She is the holder of several awards and has been recognized for her contributions in the field of law and the administration of justice.   She has the distinction of other “firsts”:  one of the first female Virgin Islanders to be called to the Bar of the Virgin Islands; the first Virgin Islander to be appointed to the Bench of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court; and the first female to be appointed to the Court of Appeal.

Role of the Judicial Officer as a Leader: Friday @ 11:30 a.m.

The Hon Mme Justice Yonette Cummings

Chancellor, Guyana

Madam Justice Yonette Cummings began her legal career in 1988 as a State Counsel within the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions. She served in various positions including that of acting Director of Public Prosecutions until her elevation to the Supreme Court as a Puisne Judge in 2000. After valuable contribution to the High Court, Justice Cummings was further elevated to the Court of Appeal in January 2008. In December 2015, Her Honour was appointed to act as Chief Justice of the Judiciary of Guyana and in March, 2017 as acting Chancellor of the Judiciary and currently serves in the latter position. Justice Cummings is a graduate of the University of London, the University of the West Indies and Hugh Wooding Law School. Madam Justice Yonette Cummings is also the recipient of two National Awards for her dedication and outstanding contribution to the legal field in Guyana. Justice Yonette Cummings is a fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute and a member of a number of professional associations. Her Honour has special interest in matters affecting children, women and the vulnerable members of society. Reading and gardening are her favourite past times.

Role of the Judicial Officer as a Leader: Friday @ 11:30 a.m.

The Hon Mr Justice Anthony Smellie

Chief Justice, The Cayman Islands

Chief Justice Smellie holds a LLB Hons. from the University of the West Indies and a LLD (HC) from Liverpool in 2006. He also holds a Diploma in Development & Finance Law from the International Development Law Institute in Rome, Italy. Chief Justice Smellie was initially called to the Bar in Jamaica as an Attorney-at-Law before serving as Clerk of the Courts (Westmoreland, Jamaica) from 1976 to 1977; Crown Counsel and Assistant Director of Public Prosecution (Jamaica) from 1977 to 1983. He taught as an Associate Lecturer at the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica from 1980 to 1983 before moving to the Cayman Islands. Chief Justice Smellie began his career in Cayman as Principal Crown Counsel and Solicitor General from 1983 to 1992. He served as Attorney General Cayman Islands (Acting) from January to November 1992 following which he was appointed as a Judge of the Grand Court where he served from January 1993 to June 1998 when he was appointed Honourable Chief Justice. Chief Justice Smellie was appointed one of Her Majesty’s Counsel in August 1991 and served as a team member of the Financial Action Task Force (mutual evaluation of United States Legal and Financial Anti-money Laundering Regimes) in 1996. He has also served on the Mutual Legal Assistance Authority (Cayman – United States MLAT) since 1993. Chief Justice Smellie is a Honorary Bencher, Grays Inn, London, England; Honorary Fellow Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (University of London); Patron: Commonwealth Law Journal, Oxford University Press; Alumnus, London Business School (Executive Education Programme); Member – Insolvency Practitioners International (Insol). He was nominated as a member of the International Hague Network of Judges for the Convention of the Protection of Children and served from July 2011 to June 2013; and nominated by the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners as a judicial member in April 2013. He has been appointed as a Member from 1 January 2017 – 31 December 2020.

Role of the Judicial Officer as a Leader: Friday @ 11:30 a.m.