Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 05, 2017 (SKNIS): Fourteen individuals in St. Kitts and Nevis were awarded for their sterling contribution to the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) as part of the organization’s 50th anniversary celebrations held throughout 2017 in all member territories of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
The awardees are Kilene Belgrove Richardson; Sarah Lawrence; Jose Lloyd; Samuel Leader; Bernice Rawlins; Eileen Knight; Claudia Williams; Kirthly Morton; Mova Daniel; John Arthurton; Theodore Hobson Q.C.; Reuben Wilkinson; Sir Hugh Rawlins; and Sir Dennis Byron.
Her Ladyship the Honourable Dame Janice Pereira, Chief Justice of the ECSC, congratulated the awardees for “their service to the court” and noted that their hard work and dedication have been of great importance.
One of the awardees, Claudia Williams, worked in the administrative field for over 35 years. In 1979, she was assigned to the ECSC as a judge’s secretary and the court’s stenographer. Commenting on her accomplishment, Mrs. Williams said “I am proud of the award that was given and it was my pleasure serving the court and my country.”
Her Ladyship Dame Pereira said that the 50th anniversary of the ECSC marked a significant milestone that called for special celebration throughout the year and throughout the nine states and territories of the court’s jurisdiction.
“It was a year filled with exciting and positive events,” said the chief justice, while reflecting on the theme “Celebrating the Past, Embracing the Future”. “In keeping with our 50th anniversary theme, let us celebrate our past as a court and fully embrace its future.”
She used the occasion to express appreciation to the St. Kitts and Nevis 50th Anniversary Organizing Committee for the various activities that were planned in celebration of the court’s 50th year.
The ECSC was established in 1967 by the West Indies Associated States Supreme Court Order No. 223 of 1967. It is a superior court of record for the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), including six independent states: Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and three British Overseas Territories (Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, and Montserrat). It has unlimited jurisdiction in each member State.
