March 17, 2011

Leader of a UN criminal tribunal for Rwanda named next chief of Caribbean Court of Justice

The Trinidad-based regional appeals body has issued a statement saying that St. Kitts native Dennis Byron will soon succeed retiring president Michael de la Bastide. The court said it would announce Byron's starting date later.

Byron is president of the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and a former chief justice of the Eastern Caribbean appeals court.

The Caribbean Court of Justice is the highest court of appeal for several former British colonies in the Caribbean. So far, it has replaced the colonial-era British Privy Council in Barbados, Belize and Guyana.

Byron's appointment was announced Wednesday.