Justice Eddy Ventose, who led the judicial fight in the Barbados 2018 General Election that allowed Commonwealth citizens resident here to vote, is now under judicial scrutiny.
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An attempt is being made to have him voted out as a Court of Appeal Judge on the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, a position he has held since January 8.
Justice of Appeal Ventose, a St Lucian, who has been residing and working in Barbados for several years, was also the dean of the Faculty of Law at Cave Hill Campus.
On September 9, notable legal luminary James A. L. Bristol KC filed an application for judicial review by way of a writ of certiorari, in the Supreme Court of Grenada, challenging the Judicial and Legal Services Commission’s appointment of Ventose as Justice of Appeal.
Bristol, a former attorney general of Grenada, is claiming that Justice Ventose does not meet the criteria and his years of service, including those in Barbados where he was attached to Finnestere Chambers for nine years, did not satisfy the required time. In an affidavit, Bristol outlined how in 2022 the Heads of Government of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) appointed a committee to assist them in their constitutional task of appointing a new Chief Justice of the OECS Court. The committee included Bristol and was chaired by Sir Dennis Byron, former Chief Justice of the court and former president of the Caribbean Court of Justice. Bristol noted that the Chief Justice post was advertised and
Justice Ventose, (Interested Party), submitted an application but was appointed Justice of Appeal by the commission and in a February 10, 2024 letter the Search Committee requested that Ventose provide further information in relation to his qualifications.
That information was provided in a letter dated March 5, 2024. (MB)
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