PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – The Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Academy for Law on Sunday named 48 “exceptional Caribbean lawyers” whom it said will be recognised as “legendary Caribbean legal practitioners”.

“Among the awardees are giants of the legal profession representing historical, transitional, and contemporary epochs of law and development in the region,” the CCJ said, adding that this will be the third instalment of the academy’s Eminent Caribbean Jurists series.

Among those named are Jamaican national hero and former premier, Norman Manley; former Barbados Prime Minister Sir Grantley Adams; Sir Harold “Bree” St John; former Trinidad and Tobago Governor General Sir Ellis Clarke; the first CCJ President Michael De La Bastide; and Sir Hugh Wooding, after whom The University of the West Indies (UWI) law school in Trinidad is named.

Other Jamaican awardees are JAG Smith; Vivian O Blake, KC; David Coore, KC; Justice Dennis Morrison, KC; Justice Hilary Phillips, KC; Frank Phipps, KC; Ian Ramsay, KC; Dr Lloyd Barnett; and Dr Kenneth Rattray, KC.

The list also includes Sir Lionel Alfred Luckhoo, Sir Fenton Ramsahoye, Professor JOF Haynes of Guyana; Sir WH Courtenay of Belize; Sir Lee Moore of St Kitts-Nevis; and Sir Vincent Floissac of St Lucia.

The academy, which serves as the educational arm of the CCJ, created the Eminent Caribbean Jurists: Legendary Caribbean Legal Practitioners Award series in 2019 as a means of recognising and honouring the contribution of Caribbean jurists to the law and societal development.

It said the “legal legends” were selected by the Regional Selection and Advisory Committee, which first met on September 27 last year, and that nominations were submitted from bar associations, judiciaries, journalists, the Council for Legal Education and its law schools, other law schools in the region, professional associations, and former eminent caribbean jurists.

It said 115 nominations were received, from which 48 were selected having regard to regional and temporal distribution.

“As part of the project, a brief profile was prepared for each honoree by specially selected essayists. These profiles will be compiled into a publication to memorialise the contribution of these outstanding legal practitioners to the development of law in the region,” the CCJ Academy said.

It said it is anticipated that the publication will be launched and available to the public in January 2024 and that it is hoping, as with the academy’s previous publications, “that highlighting the lives and work of these Caribbean legal personalities will inspire the younger generation of practitioners”.