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CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC—The acting Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC), Mario Michel, said Friday that he hopes his retirement on May 5 will pave the way for the unanimous appointment of a new head of the court.
Michel, a St. Lucian-born jurist, was appointed in May 2024 to act as chief justice, succeeding Dame Janice M: Pereira, who had held the position since October 24, 2012.
After two extensions, Michel’s appointment was slated to expire on January 19, 2026.
“However, I decided to retire from my substantive office as a justice of appeal and consequently as acting chief justice, as of May 5, 2025, which is the anniversary of my appointment as acting chief justice,” he told a special sitting of the ECSC on Friday to mark his retirement.
“I am hoping that my retirement will help to clear the path to a unanimous decision of the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) heads of government on a permanent appointment to the office of chief justice,” Michel said.
He thanked the St. Lucia-based Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) for appointing him to act as chief justice and for “the total cooperation and support that I’ve gotten from the members of the commission since my first appointment as acting Chief Justice and, ex officio, the chairman of the commission.”
Mario thanked the people who spoke at or attended the special sitting, which saw participation virtually from all court member states.
“It’s been over 16 years: seven months as an acting High Court judge in Anguilla and Grenada, three years as a resident High Court judge in Antigua and Barbuda, and 12 years and eight months on the Court of Appeal, with the last of these years serving in an acting capacity as the Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court,” Michel said.
“These 16-plus years constitute the longest span of the three capacities in which I have worked since leaving law school in June of 1984, the other two being as a lawyer in private practice at the bar in St. Lucia for nearly 15 years and as a parliamentarian and government minister in St. Lucia for a little over nine and a half years.”
Michel, a legislator and former deputy prime minister of St. Lucia, said that in his service in all three branches of government, he has “always tried to be a hard worker, an honest man and a person of high integrity.
“If ever I fell short even slightly in any of these capacities, it could only have been when I didn’t work as hard as I could have at a particular task.
“Along the way, I served in the legislative branch of the Government of St. Lucia as a parliamentary representative and leader of government business in the House of Assembly, in the executive branch as deputy prime minister, and in the judicial branch as acting chief justice,” Michel said.
“At the end of these three segments of my journey, I harbor no regrets or disappointments, either for holding the offices that I did or for not keeping those I might have. It was good enough for me to give it all my best.
“So I thank everyone whom I worked with in my 41-year working life thus far, especially on this occasion, the judges and the court staff with whom I worked in my 16-plus years on the bench of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.”
Michel also thanked his family: “Without a supportive family, work, and life generally can be much more difficult than necessary.
“And I was lucky to be blessed with a supportive family. So thank you to my wife, my children, my siblings, most of whom are here, and posthumously, to my mother for the parts they each played in my life’s journey.”
Michel ended his comments with “a plea and a pledge” and voiced his desire for the next chief justice to continue the court’s public education program, which began in September.
Justice Michel said he believed the program was beginning to bear fruit in demystifying the Eastern Caribbean court system and educating youth and students about the court system in general and the ECSC as an institution.
“We’ve done a few beneficial things in these last seven months, including the visits to the community colleges in all the nine member states and territories of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, the public lecture series, the youth leaders symposium, and the broadcast and posting of a wide-ranging interview of me by a media professional in S.t Lucia,” the acting chief justice said.
However, he said there is still a lot to be done, “which I hope our next chief justice will facilitate and participate in.” He added that, fortunately, the court has an information services manager working with him to implement the public education program.
“And the chief registrar and the court administrator are on board with that program,” Justice Michel said.
The bench and bar members have shown significant appreciation and support for it. This should make it not too difficult for a new chief justice to continue with the program.
Michel pledged to assist whoever succeeded him as chief justice: “If at all I can give some assistance to you as a result of the years of experience which I had in this office, please feel free to call me.
“And I mean free. This is not a bid for consultancy work. Thank you once again to everyone,” Justice Michel said.
He was speaking at the end of a sitting in which his lifelong friend, since childhood, King’s Counsel, Dexter Theodore, of St. Lucia, expressed regret that Michel was not appointed chief justice.
“As a judge, his lordship’s legacy lies in his courageous fidelity to the law even when it unsettled powerful politicians. Sadly, in these parts, fierce independence of thought by judicial officers frequently draws parochial repercussions,” Theodore told the court.
“Sadly, it is no secret that his lordship’s elevation to the substantive chief justice post has been thwarted. Under the OECS Treaty, such appointments require unanimous consent from regional leaders, which has not been forthcoming,” he said.
“If there are those who believe that a judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court should rule based on his political philosophy, rather than out of regard for the law, they must understand that this is a Trumpish notion which must be eschewed.”
The senior lawyer said that a system that “gives a politician the ability to stand in the way of the appointment to judicial office of a deserving candidate for reasons which may or may not have anything to do with the judicial officer’s competence and integrity must be flawed.
“His lordship’s blocked ascension is not a failure of Caribbean jurisprudence but a call to reform it. If we examine the quality of his lordship’s judgment, we will see that his judgments have helped shape our legal landscape,” Theodore said and outlined some of Justice Michel’s distinguishing judgments.
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CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC—The acting Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC), Mario Michel, said Friday that he hopes his retirement on May 5 will pave the way for the unanimous appointment of a new head of the court.
Michel, a St. Lucian-born jurist, was appointed in May 2024 to act as chief justice, succeeding Dame Janice M: Pereira, who had held the position since October 24, 2012.
After two extensions, Michel’s appointment was slated to expire on January 19, 2026.
“However, I decided to retire from my substantive office as a justice of appeal and consequently as acting chief justice, as of May 5, 2025, which is the anniversary of my appointment as acting chief justice,” he told a special sitting of the ECSC on Friday to mark his retirement.
“I am hoping that my retirement will help to clear the path to a unanimous decision of the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) heads of government on a permanent appointment to the office of chief justice,” Michel said.
He thanked the St. Lucia-based Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) for appointing him to act as chief justice and for “the total cooperation and support that I’ve gotten from the members of the commission since my first appointment as acting Chief Justice and, ex officio, the chairman of the commission.”
Mario thanked the people who spoke at or attended the special sitting, which saw participation virtually from all court member states.
“It’s been over 16 years: seven months as an acting High Court judge in Anguilla and Grenada, three years as a resident High Court judge in Antigua and Barbuda, and 12 years and eight months on the Court of Appeal, with the last of these years serving in an acting capacity as the Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court,” Michel said.
“These 16-plus years constitute the longest span of the three capacities in which I have worked since leaving law school in June of 1984, the other two being as a lawyer in private practice at the bar in St. Lucia for nearly 15 years and as a parliamentarian and government minister in St. Lucia for a little over nine and a half years.”
Michel, a legislator and former deputy prime minister of St. Lucia, said that in his service in all three branches of government, he has “always tried to be a hard worker, an honest man and a person of high integrity.
“If ever I fell short even slightly in any of these capacities, it could only have been when I didn’t work as hard as I could have at a particular task.
“Along the way, I served in the legislative branch of the Government of St. Lucia as a parliamentary representative and leader of government business in the House of Assembly, in the executive branch as deputy prime minister, and in the judicial branch as acting chief justice,” Michel said.
“At the end of these three segments of my journey, I harbor no regrets or disappointments, either for holding the offices that I did or for not keeping those I might have. It was good enough for me to give it all my best.
“So I thank everyone whom I worked with in my 41-year working life thus far, especially on this occasion, the judges and the court staff with whom I worked in my 16-plus years on the bench of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.”
Michel also thanked his family: “Without a supportive family, work, and life generally can be much more difficult than necessary.
“And I was lucky to be blessed with a supportive family. So thank you to my wife, my children, my siblings, most of whom are here, and posthumously, to my mother for the parts they each played in my life’s journey.”
Michel ended his comments with “a plea and a pledge” and voiced his desire for the next chief justice to continue the court’s public education program, which began in September.
Justice Michel said he believed the program was beginning to bear fruit in demystifying the Eastern Caribbean court system and educating youth and students about the court system in general and the ECSC as an institution.
“We’ve done a few beneficial things in these last seven months, including the visits to the community colleges in all the nine member states and territories of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, the public lecture series, the youth leaders symposium, and the broadcast and posting of a wide-ranging interview of me by a media professional in S.t Lucia,” the acting chief justice said.
However, he said there is still a lot to be done, “which I hope our next chief justice will facilitate and participate in.” He added that, fortunately, the court has an information services manager working with him to implement the public education program.
“And the chief registrar and the court administrator are on board with that program,” Justice Michel said.
The bench and bar members have shown significant appreciation and support for it. This should make it not too difficult for a new chief justice to continue with the program.
Michel pledged to assist whoever succeeded him as chief justice: “If at all I can give some assistance to you as a result of the years of experience which I had in this office, please feel free to call me.
“And I mean free. This is not a bid for consultancy work. Thank you once again to everyone,” Justice Michel said.
He was speaking at the end of a sitting in which his lifelong friend, since childhood, King’s Counsel, Dexter Theodore, of St. Lucia, expressed regret that Michel was not appointed chief justice.
“As a judge, his lordship’s legacy lies in his courageous fidelity to the law even when it unsettled powerful politicians. Sadly, in these parts, fierce independence of thought by judicial officers frequently draws parochial repercussions,” Theodore told the court.
“Sadly, it is no secret that his lordship’s elevation to the substantive chief justice post has been thwarted. Under the OECS Treaty, such appointments require unanimous consent from regional leaders, which has not been forthcoming,” he said.
“If there are those who believe that a judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court should rule based on his political philosophy, rather than out of regard for the law, they must understand that this is a Trumpish notion which must be eschewed.”
The senior lawyer said that a system that “gives a politician the ability to stand in the way of the appointment to judicial office of a deserving candidate for reasons which may or may not have anything to do with the judicial officer’s competence and integrity must be flawed.
“His lordship’s blocked ascension is not a failure of Caribbean jurisprudence but a call to reform it. If we examine the quality of his lordship’s judgment, we will see that his judgments have helped shape our legal landscape,” Theodore said and outlined some of Justice Michel’s distinguishing judgments.
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