APPEAL Court President Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop on Monday urged judicial officers to hold true to the values of “collegiality and institutional loyalty”, which are hallmarks of the profession, even if they are at odds with each other.

McDonald-Bishop, who was speaking following the swearing-in ceremony for six judges who have been appointed to act in higher offices for the Michaelmas term at King’s House, congratulated her colleagues while reminding them that “judicial office is a trust”.

“Two duties matter especially in that trust; collegiality and loyalty to the institution through which we serve our people. Collegiality is more than just being courteous, it asks us to listen carefully, disagree respectfully, support one another generously, and remain faithful to our oath, our conscience and the law,” she stated.

“Independence remains essential but it need not make us solitary or unapproachable. We may disagree firmly but the manner in which we disagree must be part of our judicial discipline. At the end of the day, my colleagues, the court must remain whole after the disagreement has passed because a divided house just cannot stand,” she said further.

Justice McDonald-Bishop, in noting that institutional loyalty translates to “loyalty to the constitutional purpose, to administer justice with independence, impartiality, and integrity and of course with dignity”, stressed that “it is never silence in the face of wrong, where standards are compromised or independence is threatened”.

“The faithful judge speaks respectfully, plainly and from principle,” she said, adding, “collegiality also requires generosity of spirit”.

“We should be available to our colleagues, share what we know, assist where we reasonably can and offer guidance in a manner that preserves the dignity and assurance of the colleague who seeks it. We should take sincere pleasure in another judge’s success, recognising that the honour of one strengthens the honour of the institution as a whole. We must guard against that quiet habit of keeping a private account of opportunities, invitations, committees, assignments, acknowledgements, or even perceived preferences,” the Appeal Court president schooled.

Such comparisons, she said, “can unsettle collegial trust and weaken the spirit in which we are called to serve”.

“The judiciary is not strengthened when any of us begins to compete for notice, there is work enough and there is honour enough for each of us to serve faithfully and to serve well. Therefore, collegiality and institutional loyalty are working virtues that should guide us. One teaches us to serve with decency among colleagues, the other teaches us to serve with steadiness within an institution which is greater than ourselves. Both require humility, restraint and dignified conduct,” she stated.

Her comments come just weeks after internal turmoil at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), centring on allegations against CCJ President Justice Winston Anderson, spilled into the news media, resulting in Anderson condemning, “in the strongest possible terms”, the unauthorised disclosure and publication of confidential material relating to the internal deliberations and confidential correspondence of the court.