Nine judges to be appointed

Nine judges are to be appointed this week to serve in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, Gleaner sources have revealed.

There are reports, too, that Justice Hilary Phillips is to be sworn in to act as president of the Court of Appeal to allow her boss, Justice Dennis Morrison, to go on vacation.

Kadiesh Jarrett, director of communications at Court Management Services in the Ministry of Justice, confirmed that a swearing-in ceremony for judges is scheduled to take place at King's House on Friday but declined to comment further.

Justice Minister Delroy Chuck confirmed, too, that funding is in place to allow the judges to take up their appointments.

"The funds have always been in the budget. What happens is that it goes back to the Consolidated Fund while the positions are vacant," Chuck explained.

According to sources, five judges are to be appointed to the Supreme Court and four to the Court of Appeal.

Among those expected to be appointed to the Supreme Court is Justice Judith Pusey, who has been acting as puisne judge since last January. Pusey served in the lower tier of the country's judicial system for nearly two decades.

The other acting puisne judges expected to be appointed full time are Lisa Palmer-Hamilton, a former senior deputy director of public prosecutions, and Andrea Thomas, a former parish judge.

Parish Judge Sharon Barnes is expected to be appointed to act as a puisne judge in the Supreme Court, while Tania Mott Tulloch-Reid is slated to be appointed to act as master-in-chambers, also at the Supreme Court.

Among the four judges reportedly heading to the Court of Appeal are David Fraser, Jennifer Straw and Carol Edwards.

The Gleaner reported earlier this month that Solicitor General Nicole Foster-Pusey is also heading to the Court of Appeal.

The appointment of the four Appeal Court judges follows an $846-million expansion of the nation's second-highest court.

Morrison disclosed during the official opening ceremony that during the course of 2019, three judges will be recruited with a view to bringing the court up to its full complement of 12 judges, plus the president, by the beginning of 2020.