ThE pREsIdENT

on monday 19th march, 2018, ms. Paulamae Weekes took the oath as the Sixth President of the republic of Trinidad and Tobago, at an inauguration Ceremony at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain.

one month earlier on february 19, 2018, the electoral College elected ms. Weekes as the Sixth President of the republic of Trinidad and Tobago. ms. Weekes is this country’s first female President.

When her name was submitted as a nominee, ms. Weekes held the position of judge of the Turks and Caicos islands Court of appeal – a position she assumed on february 1, 2017 for a 3 year term.

ms. Weekes is a former pupil of the bishop anstey high School, Portof-Spain. In 1980 she attained a Bachelor of Laws Degree (Honours) at the University of the West indies, Cave hill Campus, barbados, and in 1982 Ms. Weekes received a Legal Education Certificate from the Hugh Wooding law School. She was called to the bar in 1982.

ms. Weekes was employed as a State Counsel i – Senior State Counsel in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions from 1982 to 1993, after which she entered private practice engaged chiefly in criminal trial and appellate work.

in September of 1996 ms. Weekes was appointed a Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Trinidad and Tobago (Criminal Jurisdiction). Ms. Weekes was the fifth woman to be appointed a Judge of the High Court in Trinidad and Tobago. She held this post until 2005 when she was elevated to a Justice of appeal, retiring in 2016.

from august 1 to 11, 2012, ms. Weekes would act as Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago for the first time, as the most senior of the appellate judges in the jurisdiction.

ms. Weekes is a trained and experienced judicial educator having become a fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial education institute in 2000. She has designed and delivered programmes extensively in Trinidad and Tobago and also in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Jamaica over the years.