Jamaican lawyer appointed attorney general overseas

WESTERN BUREAU:Jamaica-born lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Dr Christopher Malcolm has accepted a three-year assignment to serve as attorney general (AG) of the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

Dr Malcolm, a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators who has been admitted to practice as an attorney-at-law in the BVI, Dominica, Jamaica, and St Lucia, will be principal adviser to the new government, which came into office November 7.

In his capacity as AG, he will serve as an ex-officio member of the legislative council as well as that of the cabinet.

Speaking with The Gleaner last week, the lawyer, who is a partner in Malcolm Gordon, Attorneys-at-Law said, prior to this appointment, his involvement in the law has been as a practitioner in the private sector as well as a legal academic.

"So far as this new role is concerned, I will become more involved in the political arena and also the public service."

He says it will, therefore, require a new approach, including reliance on the skills of diplomacy that he can muster.

Malcolm is expected to take up the position in January 2012, in the country which remains a dependency of the United Kingdom and has a special constitutional arrangement under which there is limited self governance. The BVI has a local legislative council with authority to pass laws for the governance of the territory.

Dr Malcolm brings a wealth of knowledge to the position, having headed the Legal Unit, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States; guest lecturer, International Financial Law Unit, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University London; and tutor of the World Trade Organisation Trade Policy course.

Janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com