Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands

The Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands is the principal legal adviser to the Government of the British Virgin Islands.[1] Under the Constitution of the British Virgin Islands the Attorney General sits ex officio in both the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands[2] and in the Cabinet of the British Virgin Islands,[3] but is not permitted to vote in either. The Attorney General also sits on the Committee for the Prerogative of Mercy[4] and on the National Security Council.[5]

Attorney General
Incumbent
Dawn Smith
Attorney General's Chambers
StyleThe Honourable
Inaugural holderLionel W. Barker
FormationVirgin Islands Constitution Order, 1967 (Statutory)
Websitehttps://bvi.gov.vg/departments/attorney-general-chambers

The Attorney General is supported by two senior law officers: the Solicitor General (in relation to civil matters) and the Director of Public Prosecutions (in relation to criminal matters). When appearing in court, by convention the Attorney General sits one row in from the row reserved for Queen's Counsel.

The current Attorney General is Dawn Smith.[6][7]

History

The office traces its origins back to the reintroduction of democracy in the British Virgin Islands pursuant to the 1950 general election. At that time the Legislative Council (as the House of Assembly was then known) had to look to the Attorney General of the Leeward Islands for support. This was regarded as unsatisfactory and following the 1954 general election Herman Besson was appointed to the title of Legal Assistant to the Legislative Council. In 1959 the title of the office was changed to Crown Attorney, and subsequent to the introduction of Ministerial Government following the 1967 general election the office was titled Attorney General.[8]

Qualifications

Since 2007 in order to be qualified to be appointed as Attorney General a person must be eligible to be admitted as a lawyer in the British Virgin Islands, and must have not less than 10 years experience practising law.[9] However, this was not always the case, and various past Attorneys General were either not admitted in the British Virgin Islands and in some cases were not even eligible to be admitted in the British Virgin Islands.[10]

By law, since 2007 no person may be appointed to the office of Attorney General unless he or she is a Belonger to the Virgin Islands unless, in the opinion of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, there is no such person who is suitably qualified and able and willing to be so appointed.[11] In practice, every single Attorney General appointed since 2007 has been a non-Belonger, and only two Attorneys General in the history of the British Virgin Islands was a belonger at the time they were appointed (Dancia Penn, and the current Attorney General, Dawn Smith).[12]

List of Attorneys General of the British Virgin Islands

A total of 27 persons have been appointed to the office (including as Crown Attorney or Legal Assistant prior to 1967, and persons who were appointed as acting Attorney General), of whom 20 have been men and seven have been women. Three have been Queen's Counsel (although two were appointed to the rank during office), and the remaining 24 have been from the Outer bar or solicitors during their time as Attorney General.[13] The longest serving Attorney General to date has been Cherno Jallow, who served just under eight years (including time as acting Attorney General).

For Attorneys General prior to 1954 see Attorney General of the Leeward Islands

Attorneys General of the British Virgin Islands[14]
Office holder Title of office Dates
Herman A. Besson Legal Assistant 1954–1958
Oliver M. Browne Crown Attorney 1958–1959
George A. Redhead Crown Attorney 1959–1962
John A.B. Barwick, QC Crown Attorney 1962–1964
Leo I. Austin Crown Attorney 1964
J.S. Archibald Crown Attorney 1964 - February 1965
Lionel W. Barker Crown Attorney 1965 - March 1967
Attorney General March 1967 - 1968
William L. MacIntyre Attorney General (acting) 1968-1970
Edgar A.C. Hewlett Attorney General (acting) 1970
Nolan Jacobs Attorney General (acting) 1970–1972
Paula F. Beaubrun Attorney General (acting) 17 July 1972 – 30 June 1973
Attorney General 1 July 1973 – 25 July 1977
Clare I. Roberts Attorney General (acting) 1977
Jack Smith Hughes, OBE Attorney General (acting) 1977
Michael J. Bradley Attorney General (acting) 1977–1978
Velma I. Hamilton-Gayle Attorney General (acting) 28 November 1978 – 10 October 1979
Sandra M.H. DeSilva Attorney General 1979–1982
Lewis Hunte Attorney General 1982–1986
Karl S. Atterbury Attorney General 1986–1990
Donald A.B. Trotman Attorney General 1990–1992
Dancia Penn, QC, OBE Attorney General 1 October 1992 - 1999
Davidson K. Baptiste Attorney General (acting) 1993
Cherno Jallow, QC Attorney General (acting) 1 November 1999 – 21 February 2000
Attorney General 22 February 2000 - 2007
Kathleen Ayensu Attorney General 24 June 2007 – 24 June 2010
Baba Aziz Attorney General (acting) 24 June 2010 – 6 November 2011
Dr Christopher Malcom[15] Attorney General 7 November 2011 – 31 December 2014
Baba Aziz[16] Attorney General 1 January 2015 – 30 September 2020
Dawn Smith[6] Attorney General 1 October 2020 – Present
Mr Arden Warner also acted as Attorney General (acting) on various occasions for short terms.

See also

Footnotes
  1. Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007, article 58(2)
  2. Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007, section 63(1)
  3. Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007, article 47(1)
  4. Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007, article 44(1)
  5. Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007, article 57(1)(d)
  6. "Dawn Smith Takes Over As Attorney General". Virgin Islands Platinum News. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  7. "Dawn Smith named new attorney general". BVI Beacon. 28 May 2020.
  8. "BVI election and information results 1950–2011" (PDF). BVI Deputy Governor's Office. pp. 195–199. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2014.
  9. Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007, article 95(5)
  10. The longest ever serving Attorney General was Cherno Jallow QC, who was only admitted as a lawyer in Gambia, and was thereby ineligible for admission to practice as a lawyer in the British Virgin Islands.
  11. Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007, article 95(6)
  12. Several Attorneys General settled in the British Virgin Islands and were naturalised after leaving office.
  13. Two former Attorneys General were subsequently elevated to Queen's Counsel later in their careers: Joseph Archibald, QC and Lewis Hunte, QC.
  14. "BVI election and information results 1950–2011" (PDF). BVI Deputy Governor's Office. pp. 185–186. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2014.
  15. "Jamaican lawyer appointed attorney general overseas". The Gleaner (Jamaica). 20 November 2011.
  16. "Baba Aziz appointed attorney general". BVI News. Archived from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
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