Former Attorney General John Jeremie who was shortlisted to be appointed an Appeal Court Justice by the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) comprising chairman Chief Justice Ivor Archie, chairman of the Public Service Commission Winston Rudder, attorney Elton Prescott, SC, Justice of Appeal Charmaine Pemberton and Dr Albert Persaud, has withdrawn from consideration for the prestigious position.
As a result of this development sources have indicated that Justice Eleanor Joye Donaldson-Honeywell, a former solicitor general , has been moved up the merit list and will likely join Justice Geoffrey Henderson as the two new judges of the Court of Appeal.
Henderson, a former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), served for eight years as a judge of the International Criminal Court, at the Hague, in the Netherlands, but maintained his seniority in the Judiciary while working abroad.
The appointments were scheduled to be made by the end of May 2025, but after the information regarding Henderson’s potential elevation to the Appeal Court became public, the chorus of objections grew stronger with several judges approaching Archie directly to voice their concerns.
Jeremie served as attorney general under the Patrick Manning administrations between 2003-2007 and again during 2009-2010. He is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the UWI St Augustine campus.
Twelve persons applied including High Court judges Devindra Rampersad, Ricky Rahim, Frank Seepersad, Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds, Nadia Kangaloo, Avason Quinlan-Williams, Robin Mohammed, Allyson Ramkerrysingh, Honeywell-Donaldson and former temporary judge and member of the Police Service Commission Rajiv Persad, SC.
The move by the JLSC to fill vacancies in the Court of Appeal, which now comprise Archie and 11 other judges, comes after three appeal court judges opted for early retirement, two others have applied to serve on Caribbean courts and two others are scheduled to retire next year.