JSC appoints Dominican to TCI’s Supreme Court

His Lordship, the Hon Justice Davidson Kelvin Baptiste has been appointed by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) as acting Judge of the Supreme Court of the Turks and Caicos Islands for three months.

His Lordship is expected to be sworn in during the week of February 13 and will serve on the bench from February 1 to April 30, 2023.

Born in the Commonwealth of Dominica, Justice Baptiste was admitted to practice in his home nation in 1984 after being called to the Bar in the same year, and then in the British Virgin Islands in 1993.

His Lordship is a graduate of the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, where he obtained his Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Wales. He later obtained his Legal Education Certificate from the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago.

Prior to joining the bench, Justice Baptiste served as the State Attorney of Dominica from 1984 to 1986. From 1986 to 1993 he served in the British Virgin Islands as Crown Counsel, Senior Crown Counsel, Additional Magistrate, acting Registrar of the High Court and acting Attorney General.

Upon returning to Dominica, Justice Baptiste practiced privately before returning to public service in 1995 until 1998 where he served in various capacities including Director of Public Prosecutions and Solicitor General. we are making progress towards investing 300 plus million dollars in the construction of a new air terminal here in Providenciales.”

From 1997 to 1998 he joined the Bench of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court as an acting High Court Judge assigned to the island of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

After serving the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court for a year, he returned to private practice from 1999 to 2001.

In May 2010, His Lordship was appointed as judge of the Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court after acting in the post from April 2009 to April 2010.

He explained that the three-year construction plan is scheduled to begin at the end of 2023.

Meanwhile, the Minister with responsibility for Tourism, Hon Josephine Connolly expressed to the ASTA the reasons why their travel professionals should encourage travel to the Turks and Caicos Islands.

“The Turks and Caicos Islands is a multi-island destination with each one offering its own unique charm and character, making the TCI, as a whole, a destination that caters to a wide range of travellers.”

Joining the Premier was his wife, First Lady Delthia Misick. The President and CEO of ASTA, Mr Zane Kirby also attended the event along with travel representatives from all 50 states in the USA.