Jurist excited over appointment as Caribbean court judge

The Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission has appointed a Canada-based Nigerian international jurist, Dr Chile Eboe-Osuji, as a judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice.

According to a statement by the CCJ, Eboe-Osuji will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Andrew Burgess on April 11, 2025.

The RJLSC, an independent body responsible for recruiting staff and judges for the CCJ, said the 62-year-old legal luminary emerged atop from 26 applications received for the position.

The body’s Chairman, Justice Adrian Saunders, said in the statement that the applications were obtained from the United States, Canada, Nigeria, Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, Fiji, Cameroon, Kenya, Pakistan, Australia, and Trinidad and Tobago.

“Of the applications received, five candidates, three males and two females, were shortlisted for further consideration and subsequently interviewed. This process ensures that our court continues to be a beacon of fairness and excellence, characterised by the utmost professionalism and impartiality,” Saunders said.

Reacting to the appointment on his LinkedIn page, Eboe-Osuji wrote, “I’m immensely humbled by this privilege of continued service – though it comes with reduced freedom to express public views on global goings-on as I have done here these past four years.”

Eboe-Osuji is an international jurist who served as a judge of the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC), The Hague, Netherlands, from March 2012 to March 2018 and as ICC president from March 2018 to March 2021.

CCJ is a regional judicial institution for Caribbean countries established in 2001 with headquarters in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.