Outgoing President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, (CCJ), Justice Adrian Saunders was today praised for transforming the regional Court and offering rich judicial guidance to Guyana when needed the most.

The CCJ today held a special sitting to honour Justice Saunders, who is retiring from the bench. Among those to honour him was Guyana’s acting Chancellor, Justice Yonette Cummings

In her remarks, Acting Chancellor Cummings said Justice Saunders always stood on the side of justice and played a key role in the advancement of local and regional jurisprudence.

“Justice Saunders’ storied career and sterling service has left indelible marks on the Caribbean. His sterling contributions to Caribbean jurisprudence, institutional excellence and judicial reform will be permanently etched in the annals of history. I must express deep gratitude to his honour for his service to Guyana, particularly exemplified in numerous cases from our country in which he provided and give rich judicial guidance,” the acting Chancellor noted.

Guyana’s Acting Chief Justice, Roxane George, also noted the role that the outgoing CCJ President has played over the years as a guiding force for justice across the region.

“Justice Saunders has been a guiding force for Guyana’s Judiciary, making himself available to attend our judicial conferences and Court ceremonies”, she said.

For his part, Justice Saunders remembered current and past Judges of the CCJ bench that continue to lead the charge in the region.

However, he took issue with Caribbean countries that are reluctant to sign on to the CCJ and continue to opt for the Privy Council in the UK as their final Court.

He said concerns raised about the CCJ by contractors also exist at UK-based Courts. He, however, noted that the CCJ should be judged by how its decisions are well-respected by parties.

“The CCJ is by no means perfect, but if over the last twenty years the court had failed any of the severe challenge placed before it, we would have certainly heard it loud and clear again and again, we haven’t. Instead, Caribbean detractors based their reluctance to embrace their own court by repeating groundless fears, that making assertions that have zero evidence to support them and by doing what they never do to British courts, that is, to unfairly attribute to the CCJ, the imperfections of the domestic justice sector,” the Outgoing CCJ President stated.

Additionally, incoming CCJ President Justice Winston Anderson, credited Justice Saunders for moving the Court to a more modern, strategic institution. He said Justice Saunders’ tenure at the CCJ is a model for judicial excellence.

“He was always in the trenches with the staff injecting his expertise and hard work to realize this vision. His leadership propel the court to its path of excellence, such that in 2023, the CCJ became the first court in the region to be accepted into the international consortium of court excellence,” Justice Anderson stated.

Justice Saunders, who is a native of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, joined the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) in 1996, after 19 years of private practice.

On May 1, 2003 he was appointed to the ECSC’s Court of Appeal and served as acting Chief Justice between 2004 and 2005. 

In 2005, Justice Saunders was among the first cohort of judges to be appointed to the newly created Caribbean Court of Justice, and in 2018 he was appointed President of that Court for a seven-year term.

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