Deborah Thomas-Felix now an Industrial Court judge

DEPUTY Chief Magistrate Deborah Thomas-Felix has been appointed a judge of the Industrial Court.

The controversial magistrate, who had been engaged in a long battle with Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls over her transfer to San Fernando, is one of three new members of the Court. She had complained that going to San Fernando daily was problematic because of a back ailment. Other appointees are Joyce Donaldson-Honeywell, a Trinidadian who worked in Jamaica as a magistrate and Victoria Harragin of the Ministry of Labour and Micro-Enterprise Development. Meanwhile, the tenure of office of Joe Young as a judge of the Industrial Court ended yesterday. Young, a trade unionist of long-standing, has been ailing for almost a year.

Questioned as to whether her new position could be considered as of less status than when she was Deputy Chief Magistrate, a senior member of the legal fraternity noted: “The Industrial Court is a superior court of record. According to the Industrial Relations Act, the Industrial Court has, in addition to the jurisdiction and powers conferred on it by the Act, has all the powers inherrent in such a court.” He also noted that the Industrial Court has all the powers, rights and privileges which are vested in the High Court of Justice.