Chief Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh says the appointment of seven new judges to the Supreme Court is expected to significantly improve the availability of judicial resources.
The seven newly appointed puisne judges are Madame Justice Rehanna Hosein, Madame Justice Hasine Shaikh, SC; Madame Justice Sabrina Dougdeen-Jaglal; Madame Justice Sherlanne Pierre; Madame Justice Wendy Ali; Mr. Justice Nirad Samnadda-Ramrekersingh; and Madame Justice Adia Mohammed.
They received their instruments of appointment from President Christine Kangaloo at the President’s House on Tuesday morning.
With several judges due to retire in the coming months, the Chief Justice said the appointments are timely, necessary, and critical.
“We need the help. We have retiring judges. We need to expand the capacity of the court to deal with cases. So the seven judges who’ve been appointed today, along with seven between January and February, that’s 14 new judges in the past three months. So that will make a measurable mark on the availability of resources.”
The Chief Justice noted that the newly appointed judges will be strategically placed across key divisions of the court system.
“So three will go to the Criminal Division, three to the Civil, and one to the Children’s Court. The judges who were appointed in January – some went to Criminal, a couple went to Family Court and also to Civil as well.”
Chief Justice Boodoosingh added that training and mentorship programmes are in place to support the new judicial officers, ensuring a smooth transition into their roles.
“Some of these judicial officers already were judicial officers before, so they’re familiar with the Judiciary. Some are new appointments from outside of the Judiciary. So they will get into it as with everything else and we have training, we have mentoring, we have support for the judges, new judges. And they are solid professionals so they will make their mark.”
He also revealed that recruitment for the Court of Appeal is expected to begin soon.