The 2020 Law Year of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) will commence for the first time at the start of a calendar year, on Monday, January 13.

The year will begin with the usual Ceremonial Opening in the form of simultaneous special sittings in all nine Member States and Territories of the ECSC.

The proceedings in the Territory will commence with a Church Service at the Road Town Methodist Church at 8:00 a.m. This will be followed by a procession of the Judiciary, Magistracy and Bar Association Members from the round-a-bout in Road Town, along the Sir Walter Francis Drive Dual Carriage Way to culminate with a Guard of Honour on parade at the High Court, located at Sakal Place next to the Festival Village.

The parade will comprise of officers of Her Majesty’s Royal Virgin Islands Police Force and Her Majesty’s Prison and will be inspected by His Excellency the Governor, Mr. Augustus Jaspert and Her Ladyship the Honourable Madam Justice Vicki Ann Ellis, Senior Resident Judge.

The Special Sitting of the Court will follow immediately in the High Court on the Fourth Floor of the Sakal Building.

Her Ladyship the Honourable Dame Janice M. Pereira, DBE LLD, Chief Justice will give the featured address which will be broadcast live from Antigua and Barbuda to the other Member States and Territories of the ECSC at 10:00 a.m.

The law year previously ran from September to July.  The theme for the 2020 Law Year will encompass the following considerations: “A New Era for the ECSC: The Road to Achieving Court Excellence.”

The Chief Justice is the head of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court which is comprised of the High Courts in the nine Member States and Territories and the Court of Appeal. The mission of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court is
“to serve its Member States by providing access to a system of justice that is accountable and independent, and administered by officers in a prompt, fair, efficient and effective manner.”