JLSC seeks new Chief Magistrate

The Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC) is seeking to fill the position of Chief Magistrate.

In an advertisement on its website, the Service Commissions Department advertised the vacancy in the magistracy and invited applications for the position. The advertisement set out the minimum qualifications, experience, duties and responsibilities of the office holder who will earn a monthly salary of $32,700. The deadline for applications is November 23. A copy of the advertisement was also sent to the Law Association.

The substantive position of chief magistrate was left vacant when the former office holder Marcia Ayers-Caesar was appointed a High Court judge in April. Deputy Chief Magistrate Maria Busby-Earle-Caddle, who was appointed to that position effective January 13, has been acting in the position of head of the magistracy.

In a statement issued on April 19, the Judiciary said Earle-Caddle would act in the position until an appointment was made by the JLSC. The JLSC is headed by Chief Justice Ivor Archie.

On April 27, after prisoners rioted in the Port of Spain Magistrates Court when they learned that Ayers-Caesar had been made a judge, Archie, in a statement, said the JLSC had met and agreed to restore her to the magisterial bench. A separate statement signed by Ayers-Caesar said she had resigned as a judge. She now says she was under pressure to do so and has since challenged the JLSC’s decision to remove her as a judge.