Three new officials recently have been appointed to the upper echelons of the Virgin Islands legal system, including a new Criminal Division head, a new High Court justice, and a new High Court registrar, government announced last month.
Richard Floyd, a Canadian lawyer who helped create Antigua’s first dedicated criminal court, was appointed to head the Criminal Division.
Darshan Ramdhani, who has more than 13 years of professional legal experience, has been appointed High Court judge.
And Vareen Vanterpool-Nibbs, who previously worked as a senior associate at Harneys and as the principal Crown counsel in the Attorney General’s Chambers, was named High Court registrar effective Feb. 15.
Judges
Prior to arriving in the territory, Mr. Floyd worked as a Crown counsel in Canada and a prosecutor in Australia, government stated.
He was educated at York University and the University of Ottawa and “attended Harvard University,” according to a Feb. 11 statement.
Beyond his work in the legal world, Mr. Floyd has served as a board member for several mental health and addiction organisations in Canada and Antigua, and is a long-time member of the Ontario Soccer Association, according to government.
Mr. Ramdhani was most recently the attorney general for Grenada from January 2019, where he guided the country’s Covid-19 regulations and adoption of the Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court’s E-litigation platform, government stated.
He has also served as the solicitor general in Grenada’s attorney general’s office, and as the senior Crown counsel in the Grenada Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
From 1998-2001, he was a lecturer/tutor at the University of Guyana, and he is the author of the criminal procedure textbook Confession Evidence, according to government.
“Justice Ramdhani comes to the territory with a strong record of experience in criminal matters, and also with experience in training and development of prosecuting attorneys,” said Governor John Rankin.
“I look forward to his skills and talents strengthening and improving the territory’s criminal courts.”
New registrar
As High Court registrar, Ms. Vanterpool-Nibbs will be tasked with ensuring the court operates efficiently, effectively and in keeping with the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court’s procedures and rules, according to government.
She will be responsible for administering hearings, coordinating mediation and corresponding with litigants.
Ms. Vanterpool-Nibbs has Bachelor of Laws from the University of the West Indies’ Cave Hill Campus; a certificate of legal education from the Eugene Dupuch Law School in the Bahamas; and a Master of Arts in advanced legislative studies from the University of London, government stated.
“Talented legal professionals have abundant options in a territory like ours,” Deputy Governor David Archer Jr. said, adding, “I am proud that highly skilled persons like Ms. Vanterpool-Nibbs elect to bring those talents to work for the people of the Virgin Islands.”