Her Excellency the Governor, Helen Kilpatrick, CB, is pleased to announce the appointments of The Right Honourable Sir Bernard Rix, The Honourable Sir George Newman and Mr John Martin, QC as Justices of the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal.

During the summer, the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) carried out an open recruitment process, advertising the posts locally and overseas. Following a short-listing process, an interview panel consisting of Sir John Chadwick (Panel Chairman, President of the Court of Appeal and JLSC Member), Dan Scott (JLSC Chairman), Sir David Simmons (JLSC Member), Baroness Scotland (JLSC Member) and Anthony Smellie, QC (Honourable Chief Justice) interviewed five of the applicants for these posts.

“Each of these new Justices of Appeal has an impressive and distinguished legal career which will complement the experience of our present Court of Appeal” Governor Kilpatrick said. “I look forward to welcoming them to the Cayman Islands over the next year when each of them will sit for the first time” she added.

Professor Sir Bernard Rix is a recently retired Lord Justice of Appeal of England and Wales, with twenty years’ experience in the Commercial Court and the Court of Appeal. He is Professor of International Commercial Law at Queen Mary University of London. Sir Bernard has previous experience as a High Court Judge and a barrister specialising in international commercial and arbitral disputes. Sir Bernard’s appointment is effective 1 November, 2013 for a five year renewable term.

Sir George Newman, is currently a Surveillance Commissioner for England and Wales and Chairman of the Security Vetting Appeals Panel in the Cabinet Office.  He was formerly a High Court Judge of the Queen’s Division Bench in London and now sits as a Deputy Judge.  Sir George served as a Justice of the Court of Appeal in the Bahamas for two years and has acted as a barrister in a cross section of jurisdictions including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Fiji and the Caribbean. Sir George’s appointment is effective 1 July, 2014 for a three year renewable term.

John Martin, QC has been a Judge of the Courts of Appeal of Jersey and Guernsey since 2007. He has sat as a Deputy High Court Judge in the Chancery Division since 1993.He is a barrister practising from London in a wide range of commercial and chancery work; and currently Head of Chambers. Mr. Martin’s appointment is effective 1 March, 2014 for a five year renewable term.

The Cayman Islands Court of Appeal is now fully constituted and comprises of:

Rt. Honourable Sir John Chadwick (President)

Justice E Mottley, JA (term expires 25 November, 2014)

Justice Dr. A.  Conteh, JA (term expires 11 December, 2013)

Rt. Honourable Sir Anthony Campbell, JA (term expires 23 May, 2014)

Sir Richard Ground, JA

The Right Honourable Sir Bernard Rix, JA

Honourable Sir George Newman

John Martin, QC, JA