Former CI attorney general to join Court of Appeal

(CNS): A former Cayman Islands attorney general has been appointed to the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal. The decision was based, for the first time, on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, established by the new Constitution introduced in November 2009. Governor Duncan Taylor announced the appointment of Sir Richard Ground as Cayman's newest appeal court Judge following an open recruitment process, in which the commission advertised the post locally and overseas throughout June and July.  Sir Richard currently serves on the Turks and Caicos Court of Appeal and is due to join the Bermuda Court of Appeal in January next year.

During the recruitment process the potential appeal judges were short-listed to four and Sir Richard was selected.

Prior to his recent retirement, Sir Richard was the chief justice of Bermuda, a post he held for eight years, and before that he was chief justice of the Turks & Caicos Islands for six years, and a Puisne Judge in Bermuda for six years.

He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1975 but has spent most of his career in the region. Between 1987 and 1992 he was attorney general of Cayman and he received an OBE in 1991 for services to the Islands. He was awarded a Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List earlier this year for his services to justice in Bermuda.