New King’s Counsel charged to lead change

JAMAICA’S three newest King’s Counsel have been urged by senior judicial leaders to use their elevated status to push for the abolition of the UK Privy Council as the island’s final appellate court, while advancing the work of the judiciary and upholding the dignity of the legal profession.

That commission, delivered during Tuesday’s call to the Inner Bar ceremony at the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston fell to Director of Public Prosecutions Claudette Thompson, deputy solicitor general at the Attorney General’s Chambers Lisa White, and attorney-at-law and politician Oswest Senior-Smith.

Retired former president of the Court of Appeal Justice Seymour Panton, delivering remarks on behalf of his colleagues, bluntly told the new appointees what he believed their first course of duty should be.