Place of birth: Kingston, Jamaica

Nationality: British, Caymanian Status Holder, Jamaican

Appointed since 2022

BIOGRAPHY

The Chief Justice, The Hon. Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale, was called to the Jamaican Bar in 1991. After qualifying, she worked in private practice as an attorney-at-law and as a crown prosecutor before being appointed to the Bench in 1995 as Judge of the Family Court in St. James, Jamaica.

Between 1998 and 2011, she served as Magistrate and Chief Magistrate of the Cayman Islands. She was instrumental in establishing problem-solving courts that deal with domestic violence and provide treatment-based alternatives to criminal sanctions for persons with serious mental illness and substance use disorders who have come into conflict with the law and is committed to pursuing evidence-based initiatives in the justice sector.

In 2011, she was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of the Turks and Caicos Islands, the first woman to hold the post. In another first, she was appointed Chief Justice of the Turks and Caicos Islands and remained in that post until she returned to the Cayman Islands in 2020. In 2022, in yet another historically significant appointment, Ramsay-Hale was appointed Chief Justice of the Cayman Islands, the first woman to hold that office. She sits in every division of the Grand Court, including the Financial Services Division.

Chief Justice Ramsay-Hale is also an Honorary Bencher of Gray’s Inn. Throughout her distinguished career, she has been involved in legal education and judicial training, and is a frequent speaker at local, regional and international conferences and seminars.

Beyond her legal and judicial work, Chief Justice Ramsay-Hale has been deeply committed to community service. She has been an honourary member of the Rotary Club in the Cayman Islands for over 20 years and chaired the mentoring organisation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Cayman Islands for a decade.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Called to the Bar of Jamaica, 1991
• Certificate of Legal Education, Norman Manley Law School, 1991
• LL.B (Hons), University of the West Indies, 1989
• BSc (Hons), London School of Economics, 1982

BAR, JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE

• Private practice 1991-1994, appearing as an advocate in a wide range of criminal and civil matters at all levels of the Court;
• Crown Counsel, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, 1994 – 1995;
• Judge, St. James Family Court, Jamaica (and later, the Family Courts of Hanover and Westmoreland), 1995 – 1997;
• Resident Magistrate for St. James, Jamaica, 1998;
• Magistrate, Summary Court, Cayman Islands, 1998 – 2008;
• Acting Judge of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, 2006;
• Chief Magistrate of the Cayman Islands, 2008 – 2011;
• Judge of the Supreme Court, Turks and Caicos Islands, 2011 – 2014;
• Appointed to the Panel of Acting Judges of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, 2013;
• Chief Justice of the Turks and Caicos Islands, 2014 – 2020;
• Judge of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands from 2020;
• Chief Justice of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands from 2022;
• Honorary Bencher, Hon. Society of Gray’s Inn

EXTRA-JUDICIAL ENGAGEMENTS

• Part-Time Lecturer in Criminal Law, Cayman Islands Law School (now Truman Bodden Law School) 2000 – 2010;
• Guest Lecturer in Criminal Law, International College of the Cayman Islands (ICCI), 2008 and 2009;
• Session leader, regional training workshops on criminal procedure reform, domestic violence and special measures for vulnerable witnesses under the aegis of the Commonwealth Secretariat, 2011 – 2016;
• Participant, consultative seminars on the development of a model law on Judicial Service Commissions led by the Commonwealth Secretariat, Wellington, NZ and the Cayman Islands, 2015;
• Keynote Speaker and panel presenter on issues bearing on the independence of the Judiciary, Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association conferences, 2015 – 2019

MEMBERSHIPS

• Vice President for the Caribbean Region, Commonwealth Magistrate and Judges Association, 2012 – 2015;
• Council Member, Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association (CMJA), 2009 – 2012;
• Member, National Drug Council of the Cayman Islands, 2001 – 2006, 2010 – 2011;
• Chair, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Cayman Islands, 2000 – 2010