THE “deep respect inspired” by former president of the Court of Appeal Justice Ian Forte across the bench, the Bar, and the Caribbean at large resonated in the tributes that flowed during a special sitting of the appellate court in his honour last Friday.

Retired Justice Forte, the spouse of parliamentarian Marlene Malahoo Forte who died earlier this month, forged a trailblazing career spanning the legal and judicial system for over five decades, peaking when he was elevated to the bench as a judge of appeal in January 1988 before rising to become the president of the Court of Appeal in 1999. He served in that position until retirement in 2005.

On Friday, Appeal Court President Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop, who presided over the special sitting of the court en banc (full bench), said Justice Forte, who passed at the age of 89 years on June 5, “played his part and played it well in the advancement of our nation, our region and humanity”.