CARIBBEAN-New CCJ judge takes the oath of office.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Justice Chile Eboe-Osuji was sworn in on Tuesday as a judge of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) with the Court’s President, Justice Adrian Saunders, saying, “I do not doubt that (he) will make an important contribution to the development of our Caribbean jurisprudence.”

The new judge took the oath of office before Trinidad and Tobago’s President, Christine Kangaroo, at the President’s House.

“The CCJ has been unswerving in pursuing its vision of becoming a model of judicial excellence. Today, the CCJ has taken another important step in the quest for the vision by adding Justice Eboe-Osuji to its ranks.

“Justice Eboe-Osuji is a brilliant legal mind and a gifted jurist whose long and distinguished career has, as we have heard, spanned many countries and institutions,” President Kangaroo said.

Justice Eboe-Osuji, the first Nigerian-Canadian appointed to the Court, replaces Justice Andrew Burgess, who retired on April 11, 2025.

The Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC), an independent body of 11 individuals responsible for appointing the judges and staff of the Court, selected him from a pool of 26 applicants.

Justice Saunders described the process for the recruitment as “one of, if not the most sacred role carried out by the RJLSC, is the appointment of Judges of the CCJ.

“The selection and appointment process is rigorous, competitive, merit-based, and entirely independent of any political involvement,” he said, welcoming the new judge while indicating that “‘Mr. Justice Eboe-Osuji has an impeccable record of service as a lawyer and jurist.

“ I do not doubt that (he) will make an important contribution to developing our Caribbean jurisprudence.’

Justice Eboe-Osuji is an international jurist who brings criminal and human rights law expertise to the CCJ. He practiced law as a barrister before trial courts in Nigeria and Canada and conducted appeals before the Court of Appeal for Ontario (Canada) and the Supreme Court of Canada.

He previously served as a Judge and President of the International Criminal Court and as the Legal Advisor to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. He also led the writing of amicus curiae submissions to the European Court of Human Rights and the United States Supreme Court. His diverse legal background also includes several posts as a legal advisor, published author, and professor.

He told the ceremony that ‘the Court serves its purpose not only as a court for CARICOM nations to resolve disputes arising from the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas but also there is no need to look beyond the seas for a final court of appeal, given the quality of judges we have on that Bench and it is an incredible honor for me to have been selected”.

Judges of the CCJ, which was established in 2001 to replace the London-based Privy Council as the region’s highest and final Court, are appointed to hold office until the age of seventy-two, while the President of the Court holds office for a non-renewable term of seven years.