Michael HyltonMICHAEL HYLTON, Q.C. is to be appointed Solicitor-General of Jamaica when Dr. Kenneth Rattray, Q.C. retires from the post at the end of the year.
Mr. Hylton, 47, has been a partner in the law firm Myers Fletcher and Gordon since 1983. He is head of the Litigation Department.
He was educated at St. Georges College, the University of the West Indies and the Norman Manley Law School.
Dr. Rattray, 68, has been Solicitor-General since 1972. He is also the Jamaican representative on several missions and sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations and the third UN conference on the Law of the Sea.
In 1994 he was a recipient of the International Civil Aviation Organisation's 50th Anniversary Medal of Honour for eminent contribution to civil aviation. He received the Edward Warner Award in 1998 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of International Civil Aviation, particularly in the legal field.
The Attorney-General is the principal legal adviser to the government but the Solicitor-General can perform all the functions of the Attorney-General. The Solicitor-General advises the government on civil matters and international law.
The Solicitor-General's Act states that "the Solicitor-General shall have all the powers and privileges appertaining to the office of the Assistant to the Attorney-General at the time of the coming into force of this Act, and, subject always to the directions of the Attorney-General, may perform any of the duties and exercise any of the powers of the Attorney-General."
