De la Bastide sworn in as Privy Council judge

RETIRED Trinidad and Tobago Chief Justice Michael de la Bastide was yesterday sworn in by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as a Privy Council judge. The simple ceremony was held at Buckingham Palace in London. De la Bastide was one of three persons appointed to the Privy Council. The others were Sir Dennis Byron, Chief Justice of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), and Dame Joan Sawyer, President of the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas.

De la Bastide, 67, retired as Chief Justice in 2002 and has been nominated to be the first President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). He was awarded an Open Scholarship (languages) in 1955 before obtaining a BA (Jurisprudence) with first class honours from Oxford University in 1959. He was called to the Bar in February 1961. He served as Crown Counsel in the Office of the Attorney General from 1961 to 1963 before entering private practice. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in January 1975. He is the holder of the Trinity Cross, the nation’s highest award. Glenda Morean, Trinidad and Tobago’s High Commissioner in London, congratulated de la Bastide yesterday saying the appointment to the Judicial Committee would in no way conflict with his appointment as President of the CCJ.