BARBADOS-New Chief Justice on a mission to transform the judiciary

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC—Newly installed Chief Justice Leslie Haynes has officially taken up the post and plans to modernize the judiciary.

The attorney-at-law with over 40 years of experience replaces Sir Patterson Cheltenham, who retired last week. After being sworn in at State House by President Dame Sandra Mason, he said he was “humbled” to have been chosen for the post.

“There’s a lot of work to carry on from where the last Chief Justice left off. The transformation of Government, of which the judiciary is part, is still to be achieved, and that would be my objective – to transform the judiciary into a modern court system, one that we would all be proud of,” he told the media.

Attorney General Dale Marshall, who was present at the swearing-in, agreed with the new Chief Justice, saying, “there’sThere’s still a lot of work to be done in transforming our judiciary”.

“It has served us well, but you know that I have been very critical of several issues, particularly the time that attends the delivery of decisions. I expect you probably had the same concern when you were on the other side of the bench. So, now is an opportunity for you to help us to wrestle that to the ground,” Marshall told him.

He also assured that the necessary resources would be made available to ensure the achievement of the tasks at hand.

The Attorney General also spoke highly of Haynes and congratulated him on his new job.

“He has been an advocate of extraordinary prowess. He has a keen legal mind, and I think he follows a powerful tradition of judicial officers,” he said.

Speaking directly to the new Chief Justice, he added: “For my part as Attorney General, I look forward to working very much with you. I enjoyed a cordial relationship with your predecessor, and I anticipate you and I will have the same kind of relationship.”

Haynes said that at 12 or 13, he determined he wanted to be an attorney and worked toward his goal.

He was called to the bar in October 1980. From then, the chief justice said, work was paramount, and that work ethic has served him well until today.

Haynes added that his motto has always been to work hard and serve clients.