For the first time in T&T’s history a husband and wife team will sit together as High Court judges.
The historic Judiciary milestone was created yesterday as President Anthony Carmona swore in Margret Mohammed, the wife of long standing High Court judge Vasheist Kokaram, as this country’s latest puisne judge.
A press release issued by the Office of the President yesterday afternoon said Carmona described the event as a defining moment for T&T’s Judiciary and for those acrosss the wider Caribbean region. “Judges are not appointed on the basis of popular support or popular will and must possess certain qualities among them jurisprudential prowess, legal acumen, integrity, equipoise and a deep sense of justice. Justice Mohammed possesses these qualities and more,” Carmona said.
Like Carmona, Chief Justice Ivor Archie also commended Mohammed for her previous professional achievements and described her as “dedicated, proactive and very disciplined.” “I was delighted to see her application and all members of the JLSC were impressed with her credentials...She was a candidate of calibre. We have done the right thing by recommending Justice Mohammed to His Excellency. She is an excellent lawyer,” Archie said.
The release also made special note of Mohammed’s achievements during her brief one-year tenure as a High Court Master between 2011 and 2012.
About Mohammed
Justice Margaret Mohammed, a graduate of the University of the West Indies, was called to the bar in October 1995.
She served as an associate attorney at Alexander, Jeremie & Company for two years before taking up the post of legal advisor to the Public Utilities Commission.
Her appointment as a High Court judge is not her first stint in the Judiciary as she held several posts between 2001 and 2011 including assistant registrar, acting deputy registrar and acting High Court master.
In 2012, Mohammed was appointed a High Court judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and was part of a several committees tasked with reducing a backlog of civil cases in Grenada.
Mohammed has also completed training in caribbean criminal asset recovery, complex fraud trial management, and international commercial arbitration.