Government

Barbados Appoints Justice Of Appeal & High Court Judge

Victoria Charles-Clarke is the newest Justice of Appeal in the Supreme Court, while Bryan Lawson Weekes has been appointed to the office of Judge in the High Court.

The two Justices were sworn in by Acting President, His Excellency The Very Reverend Dr. Jeffrey Gibson, at State House, yesterday.

Madame Justice Charles-Clarke, a CARICOM National, is an attorney-at-law with over 30 years’ experience in the judicial and legal services as Registrar of the High Court, Magistrate and Director of Public Prosecutions of Saint Lucia, and as a Former High Court Judge in Dominica.

In her remarks, Madame Justice Charles-Clarke said she considers her new appointment as an honour and a privilege and described it as the “highlight of her career thus far”.

She stated: “I look forward to discharging my duties with a high level of integrity, commitment, and industry and to bring to bear all the experience I’ve gathered over the years to this position, and I am privileged that I am appointed here in Barbados, a place [for] which I have very strong, sentimental feelings.”

Justice Weekes, the newly appointed High Court Judge, was admitted to the Bar in 1995. He specialises in family, civil, and commercial litigation and stated that he hopes to leverage his experience in these areas to help the Chief Justice “whittle away” the significant backlog that currently exists.

“The thing is, it is going to take a lot of work, a lot of long hours, and a robust approach to the civil litigation especially, which I intend to pursue…. I intend to pursue that goal, whether through ordering mediation, which I would have the jurisdiction to do, or to take very robust case management approaches,” he said.

Chief Justice Leslie Haynes, who was present for the swearing-in, conveyed his satisfaction with today’s appointments.

Concerning the appointment of Madame Justice Charles-Clarke, he said there will now be six judges in the Court of Appeal (including himself as the Chief Justice), which will allow the Supreme Court to have two panels of three to alleviate the work and add to the efficiency of the Court of Appeal in hearing and determining matters.

Referring to the appointment of Justice Weekes, the Chief Justice pointed out that his experience in family, civil, and commercial law will provide much assistance to the heavily backlogged High Court. “I welcome them, and I have no doubt that bearing their reputations in mind… they will do an excellent job,” he added. (PR/GIS)

Caption: From left to right – New Justice of Appeal in the Supreme Court, Victoria Charles-Clarke; Chief Justice Leslie Haynes; Acting President, The Very Reverend Dr. Jeffrey Gibson; and new Judge in the High Court, Bryan Lawson Weekes, pose for a photograph at State House this morning.

Government

Barbados Statistical Service Statement On Data Breach

The Barbados Statistical Service (BSS) confirms that we recently experienced a cyber incident. Ongoing investigations suggest that the systems of the BSS were breached on October 30, 2024, and that data was obtained by malicious actors. The Data Commissioner was advised.

Within 24 hours of the intrusion into the systems of the BSS, an incident response team was mobilised and deployed by the relevant Authority to contain the incident and investigate the scope of the breach along with BSS IT staff.

The incident has been contained, systems taken offline, and the investigations, so far, reveal that most of the information involved in this incident relates to survey data gathered primarily for statistical research purposes and then aggregated. The teams are still in the early stages of their investigations and are currently in the process of restoring data and services from secured backups.

The BSS is cognisant of its obligation to preserve public trust in the very important work of this Department. We will over the coming days and weeks ensure that our systems are appropriately hardened to reduce the probability of a recurrence and will be coming back to the public to advise on any relevant action that should be taken at the individual level to stay safe online following this event. As more information becomes available, we will provide updates to the public. (PR/GIS)

Government

Finance Ministry Approves $30 Million In Tax Payments

The Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs, and Investment announced that it recently released funds enabling the Barbados Revenue Authority (the Authority) to issue $30.4 million in Personal Income Tax (PIT) refunds for income year 2023 to 39,196 taxpayers. Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Ryan Straughn confirmed the announcement.

Minister Straughn praised the Authority’s efforts in maintaining a streamlined process that facilitates the prompt issuance of refunds.

“The majority of refund payments for income year 2023 have been issued electronically via direct deposit and eligible taxpayers will start seeing the amounts on the account of their selected financial institution from as early as this week. This process reaffirms the Government’s ongoing commitment to improve its operations and to deliver efficient service to citizens,” stated Minister Straughn.

“Just under 13 percent of the refund payments processed are being issued via cheque. The cheque payment process has more layers, is a manual process and takes a longer time to process in relation to the disbursement of the payments. So persons will start receiving refund cheques through the post from the latter part of the month.”

Minister Straughn emphasised that the prompt issuance of PIT refunds aligns with Government’s commitment to a robust, citizen-centric service framework.

“The timely execution of these payments reflects our dedication to supporting taxpayers and delivering on our promises to make government services more accessible and responsive. The Barbados Revenue Authority continues to make strides in improving operational efficiency and service delivery,” he added. (PR/GIS)

Government

Barbados Has New Resident High Commissioner To Ghana

Last Thursday, November 7, Barbados’ first resident High Commissioner of Barbados to Ghana, Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland, presented her Letters of Credentials to the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at Jubilee House, Accra, Ghana.

This occasion marked a significant milestone between the two nations, which started formal diplomatic relations in August, 1994.

High Commissioner Bynoe-Sutherland in addressing the dignitaries gathered, brought greetings on behalf of President of Barbados, Her Excellency, The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason, and the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley.

She thanked President Akufo-Addo for his inspirational words to Barbados at National Heroes Square, during the ceremony marking Barbados becoming a Republic in November, 2021.

In her remarks, High Commissioner Bynoe-Sutherland also focused on the ways in which the Atlantic Bridge was being rekindled through areas of cooperation in culture, trade and commerce, agriculture, life sciences and sports.

Having led the national hospital through COVID 19, the High Commissioner highlighted the successful cooperation in health between the two countries since 2019, which she said now serves as a model.

She shared insights into the positive contributions of the first two cohorts of Ghanaian nurses and the programme underway to welcome and orient the recently arrived third cohort of 155 nurses on November 3, 2024.

President Akufo-Addo in response, spoke about the deep enduring relationship between the countries. He asked that special greetings be sent to Prime Minister Mottley for her support and leadership during Ghana’s efforts around its candidacy for Commonwealth Secretary General.

As Barbados assumes from Ghana the Chairmanship of the Climate Vulnerability Forum (V20), cooperation is expected to deepen between the countries on climate vulnerability and efforts to achieve reform of the international financial institutions captured by the Bridgetown Initiative 3.0.

Senior officials of the Government of Ghana and the Barbados High Commission, along with the High Commissioner’s son, celebrated the occasion.

Also in attendance for the presentation of credentials was Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayokor Bocheway, who was successfully elected as the incoming Seventh Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations, and who also joined in well-wishes to the High Commissioner and Barbados.

The new High Commissioner extended appreciation for the warm welcome received by the Mission in Ghana which was established in 2021. (PR/GIS)

Caption: Barbados’ first resident High Commissioner to Ghana, Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland greets Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at Jubilee House, Accra, Ghana.