Justice Ingrid Mangatal has been appointed as a full-time at the Cayman Islands Grand Court Judge following an open recruitment process for the bench.

Her Excellency the Governor, Helen Kilpatrick, CB announced the appointment of Justice Mangatal as Cayman’s newest full-time Grand Court Judge.

The Judicial and Legal Services Commission carried out an open recruitment process, throughout July and August, advertising the position locally and overseas. Following a short-listing process, five persons were interviewed for the post; the interview panel ultimately recommended Justice Mangatal for the position. Governor Kilpatrick accepted the recommendation and Justice Mangatal’s appointment will commence on 1 January, 2015.

Justice Mangatal most recently acted from January to September 2014 as an appellate judge in Jamaica’s Court of Appeal and from September to October 2014 as a judge in the Cayman Islands Grand Court; a position she also acted in from January to March 2009.

Justice Mangatal is a graduate of the University of the West Indies and of the Norman Manley Law School, Kingston, Jamaica. She was called to the bar in 1987 and started practice in Kingston as an associate in the litigation department of the law firm Perkins Tomlinson Grant Stewart & Co. Thereafter, she became an associate and subsequently a partner in the law firm Dunn Cox Orrett and Ashenheim, now Dunn Cox. Justice Mangatal specialised in commercial and civil litigation.

In 2000, Justice Mangatal entered the public service. She was appointed as Resident Magistrate and thereafter as Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Director of Litigation, in the Attorney General’s Department where she was in charge of civil litigation brought against the Government of Jamaica. While at the Attorney General’s Department, Justice Mangatal handled a wide range of public law cases, including judicial review and constitutional matters.

Justice Mangatal has served on the Supreme Court bench in Jamaica from 2003 to 2014 and has presided over both criminal and civil courts. Between 2011 and 2013 she served as a judge in Jamaica’s Commercial Court, handling complex commercial and financial matters.

Governor Helen Kilpatrick said, “I am confident that Justice Mangatal’s breadth of knowledge, skills and experience in both civil and criminal matters will prove to be invaluable to the Cayman Islands Judiciary and the people as a whole. I look forward to formally welcoming her back to the Cayman Islands, this time in her full-time position, in the New Year”