Last Thursday morning, attorneys, judges and Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley followed Dame Janice Pereira and a police honour guard to the Multi-purpose Sports Complex for a special sitting of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court to celebrate Dame Janice’s accomplishments.
The sitting was among several events held last week to honour the Virgin Gorda native, who served as chief justice of the ECSC for 12 years and was recently appointed to the Privy Council in London.
“In every respect, sitting and being on the bench of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has been quite an interesting journey — a journey with challenges, but a journey with successes and many times satisfaction,” Dame Janice said during the court sitting. “There is a saying: If there is something worth having, a worthwhile doing, then it does not necessarily come easy. And so I really thank all of those persons who enabled me to achieve those successes on behalf of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and our region as a whole.”
A special sitting of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court was held to celebrate the accomplishments of Dame Janice Pereira. (Photo: ALLISON VAUGHN)
The sitting also paid homage to Dame Janice’s retirement from the ECSC.
“In a way, I thought that I had hung up my robes, and I think that the BVI indicated they were not having it,” she said. “They were not about to allow me to leave that quietly.”
Other speakers included Justice Angelica Teelucksingh, acting Justice of Appeal Gerard Farara, Attorney General Dawn Smith, BVI Bar Association Vice President Tamara Maduro, and attorneys Dancia Penn, John Carrington, Jack Husbands, Jerry Samuel and Colleen Farrington.
Dame Janice herself concluded the sitting, thanking supporters and speaking of the “challenges” and “successes” of her journey to the Privy Council.
“It is my hope that I left the institution of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court a bit better than and stronger than when I began,” she said.
Dame Janice Pereira (left) follows a police honour guard to the Multi-purpose Sports Complex for a special sitting of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court to celebrate her accomplishments. (Photo: ALLISON VAUGHN)
Week of events
The weeklong celebrations kicked off with a video interview with the former chief justice and the start of a four-day-long morning quiz on ZBVI Radio beginning each day at 6:35 a.m.
On Oct. 22, Dame Janice attended a breakfast hosted by the territory’s Rotary clubs and the Tortola Lions Club and a luncheon hosted by the Zonta Club of Tortola. She also paid courtesy calls to Governor Daniel Pruce, the premier and the deputy premier.
The next day, she paid a courtesy call to the Cabinet, visited schools and attended a special lecture presented by H. Lavity Stoutt Community College called “the court in the classroom.”
After the ECSC special sitting last Thursday, the BVI Bar Association hosted a cocktail party in her honour.
Celebrations continued with a dinner gala on Friday and a brunch on Saturday, followed by a Sunday church service at the Church of God (Holiness) in Virgin Gorda.
