BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — The president of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Justice Adrian Saunders will receive an honorary doctorate from the Cave Hill campus of The University of the West Indies (UWI).

Justice Saunders will be conferred with the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws during the UWI graduation ceremony on Saturday.

He was also the guest speaker at The UWI’s graduation dinner last night. Justice Saunders spoke on behalf of his fellow graduand Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, vice chancellor of the University of Ghana, and professor of entomology at the Department of Animal Biology and Conservation Science.

“I am most appreciative of this honour that The UWI will bestow upon me, and I am incredibly humbled and honoured by this recognition. I will accept it gratefully on behalf of my parents and siblings, my family, my colleagues at the CCJ, and all the people I have worked with who have all contributed to my success,” said Justice Saunders, who is the third Caribbean national to head the CCJ, which was established in 2001 to replace the London-based Privy Council as the region’s final court.

“I would be remiss if I did not also mention the role that The UWI has played in my success. My years at UWI gave me a depth of knowledge and a foundation that I am indebted to the institution for. Those years also provided me with mentors, life-long friends and many fond memories,” he added.

The St Vincent and the Grenadines-born native holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from The UWI in 1975 and a Legal Education Certificate from the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago in 1977.

The CCJ president said that the UWI has, over the past 70 years, been able to nurture generations of Caribbean leaders, as well as make an indelible mark on the development of the region.