JUSTICES Zaila McCalla and Hazel Harris were Monday appointed as judges in the Court of Appeal.

The two were among 10 judges sworn in at King’s House by Governor General Prof Kenneth Hall.

Others appointed were: Justice Horace Marsh, judge of the Appeal Court; Jennifer Straw and Almarie Sinclair Haynes, puisne judges in the Supreme Court; Leighton Pusey, Martin Gayle, Marva Bishop and Christine McDonald as acting puisne judges of the Supreme Court and Audre Lindo, as acting master in the Supreme Court.

The governor general, in his congratulations, expressed satisfaction with the number of women appointed, noting that, “Jamaican women have continued to demonstrate excellence”.

Prof Hall, who said the “challenges facing the justice system were many”, reminded the appointees that their “being called to higher service once again demonstrated confidence in (their) performance has been creditable”.

At the same time, he urged the judges to “serve with distinction, without fear or favour and without ill will”.

Meanwhile, Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe said that all the judges had been recommended on the basis of performance and expressed confidence that they would acquit themselves well.

He told them that they had the “confidence of the entire Judicial Services Commission”, stating that no one member of the Commission could reject a recommendation.

“As members of the Judicial Services Commission, we strive for consensus and if it cannot be achieved, then it is the majority that decides. Not even the chief justice… can knock anybody’s recommendation to the governor general,” he told the appointees.

Justice McCalla, who responded on behalf of her peers, pledged to dispense the assigned duties with the required diligence. “We give the assurance that we are committed to the cause and that we will serve with the highest integrity in the finest tradition of the judiciary in the pursuit of justice for all,” she said.