Special sitting held for former CJ Kelsick

Retired Chief Justice, the late Cecil Kelsick, was again remembered yesterday as a “titan of jurisprudence” and a man of dignity and integrity.

Plaudits continued a week after his death at a special sitting of the Supreme Court at the Convocation Hall of the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain yesterday.

Those who remembered Kelsick’s contribution to the local and regional jurisprudence were Chief Justice Ivor Archie; Miriam Samaru, principal of the Hugh Wooding Law School; President of the Tax Appeal Board Anthony Gafoor; and Senior Counsel Elton Prescott, on behalf of the Law Association. Yesterday’s special sitting was also attended by Kelsick’s family and a full complement of judges of the Supreme Court.

A transcript of the proceedings will be presented to the late CJ’s family as a memento. In his tribute,Archie described Kelsick as a “truly remarkable man” with many accomplishments. He spoke of his Caribbean lineage, his early beginnings and practice and his unwavering commitment to the independence of the Judiciary.

“We all owe him a huge debt of gratitude,” Archie said.

Samaru, who spoke on behalf of chairman of the Council of Legal Education Reginald Armour, SC, described Kelsick as an incomparable intellectual and jurist.

Prescott said the late Chief Justice established his mark in many fields in the profession and his legacy lived on in the West Indian Law Reports.