Hon. Margaret Ramsay-Hale appointed Chief Justice of the Cayman Islands

Hon. Margaret Ramsay-Hale appointed Chief Justice in the Cayman Islands

Hon. Margaret Ramsay-Hale is the first to many titles with her most recent being her appointment as the first female Chief Justice in the Cayman Islands. Justice Ramsay was also the first female Chief Justice in Turks and Caicos (TCI), the First Female Supreme Court Judge TCI and was the First Chief Magistrate Cayman Island. 

Hon. Margaret Ramsay-Hale, BSc (Econ)(LSE), LLB (UWI)

Place of birth: Kingston, Jamaica

Nationality: British, Caymanian Status Holder, Jamaican

QUALIFICATIONS

• Called to the Bar of Jamaica, 1991

• Certificate of  Legal Education, Norman Manley Law School, 1991

• LL.B (Hons) University of the West Indies, 1989

• BSc.(Hons), London School of Economics, 1982

BAR, JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE

• Private practice 1991-1994, appearing as advocate in a wide range of criminal and civil matters at all levels of Court

• Crown Counsel, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, 1994 – 1995

• Judge, St. James Family Court, Jamaica (and later, the Family Courts of Hanover and Westmoreland) 1995 – 1997

• Resident Magistrate for St. James, Jamaica, 1998 

• Magistrate, Summary Court, Cayman Islands, 1998 – 2008

• Acting Judge of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, 2006

• Chief Magistrate of the Cayman Islands, 2008 – 2011 

• Judge of the Supreme Court, Turks and Caicos Islands, 2011 – 2014

• Appointed to the Panel of Acting Judges of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, 2013

• Chief Justice of the Turks and Caicos Islands, 2014 – 2020

• Judge of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands from 2020 

• Honorary Bencher,  Hon. Society of Gray’s Inn

EXTRA-JUDICIAL ENGAGEMENTS

• Part-Time Lecturer in criminal law, Cayman Islands Law School (now Truman Bodden Law School) 2000 to 2010 

• Guest Lecturer in criminal law, International College of the Cayman Islands, 2008 and 2009 

• Session leader, regional training workshops on criminal procedure reform, domestic violence and special measures for vulnerable witnesses under the aegis of the Commonwealth Secretariat, 2011 –  2016

• Participant, consultative seminars on the development of a model law on Judicial Service Commissions led by the Commonwealth Secretariat,  Wellington, NZ and the Cayman Islands, 2015 

• Keynote Speaker and panel presenter on issues bearing on the independence of the Judiciary, Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association conferences, 2015 – 2019

MEMBERSHIPS

• Vice President for the Caribbean Region, Commonwealth Magistrate and Judges Association 2012- 2015

• Council Member, Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association (CMJA) 2009 -2012

• Member, National Drug Council of the Cayman Islands, 2001 – 2006, 2010 – 2011

• Chair, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Cayman Islands, 2000 – 2010

Source:

https://www.judicial.ky/judicial-administration/judges