On Tuesday, 18 March 2025, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will host a Special Sitting at its headquarters in Port of Spain to commemorate the Honourable Mr Justice Andrew Burgess’ retirement from office. Having joined the Court in 2019, Mr Justice Burgess is the first Barbadian judge to sit on the CCJ Bench.

Speaking of Mr Justice Burgess, CCJ President, the Honourable Mr Justice Adrian Saunders noted, “Mr Justice Burgess has been a tremendous addition to the CCJ Bench. His scholarly approach to the law, analytical mind and vast experience have proven invaluable in the matters on which he has sat. Under his stewardship, the Annual CCJ International Law Moot has continued to evolve, ensuring that it remains a premier platform for developing the advocacy skills of law students in the Caribbean. Throughout his long and distinguished career, he has consistently demonstrated dedication to nurturing the next generation of legal minds, an enduring testament to his commitment to the law and justice in the region.”

The full Bench of the CCJ along with the Honourable Chief Justice Mr Justice Ivor Archie ORTT, Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago, and the Honourable Mr Justice Leslie Haynes SC, Chief Justice of Barbados will preside over the day’s proceedings. Additionally, remarks will be brought by Professor David Berry, Professor of International Law and Regional Integration Law, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill; Ms Lisa Shoman, General Counsel, Caribbean Community Secretariat; the Honourable Mr Sherman Moore CHB, and Mr Zakir Hafez, Executive Secretary, World Bank Administrative Tribunal.

Mr Justice Burgess was appointed a Court of Appeal Judge in 2010. He was also previously a Dean of the Faculty of Law at The University of the West Indies’ Cave Hill campus and a Professor of Corporate and Commercial Law. He also had a distinguished career internationally as a judge of the Inter-American Development Bank’s Administrative Tribunal in Washington DC. Mr Justice Burgess was the body’s Vice-President in 2007 and 2009 and served as President from 2009-2010.

He was also a judge on the World Bank Administrative Tribunal from 2013 to 2024. In 2017, he was elected by his fellow Judges to be the Vice President of the tribunal. He was a Senior Commonwealth Fellow at Oxford University, England between 1992-1993. Mr Justice Burgess is also an author, having published Commonwealth Caribbean Company Law in 2013 and The Law of Corporate Receivers and Receiver-Managers in 2002, in addition to being published on legal issues, especially in corporate and commercial jurisprudence.

He has also served as a Senator in the Senate of The UWI, the governing body of the university, and as a Councillor in the Council of The UWI, the academic authority that oversees all of its academic matters. He also served as a member of the Barbados Judicial Council, as a member of the Tax Appeal Tribunal in Barbados, and as Chairman of several national and regional committees. At the CCJ, he serves as Chair of the Annual CCJ International Law Moot Committee.

The Special Sitting, like all CCJ hearings and judgment deliveries, will be live streamed on the Court’s YouTube page and can be viewed here: https://youtube.com/live/1XvD9WoX3bY.