Appeal Court Judge Mark Mohammed has been appointed to act as Chief Justice. Guardian Media understands that earlier this week, Justice Mohammed received an instrument of appointment from President Christine Kangaloo to temporarily hold the position while Chief Justice Ivor Archie is out of the country over the next week.
It was the first time the opportunity was afforded to Justice Mohammed, who is currently the third longest serving member of the Court of Appeal after CJ Archie and Justice Nolan Bereaux.
Justice Mohammed, a former student of Hillview College and a national open scholarship winner, was called to the bar in 1986.
He worked at the Solicitor General’s Department before transferring to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in 1987.
In July 1998, he was appointed DPP, becoming the youngest in the Commonwealth at the time.
He held the position for four years and sought to reduce a substantial backlog of indictments before being appointed High Court Judge in 2002.
He spent a little over a decade in the High Court before being promoted.
During his tenure in the Appeal Court, Justice Mohammed sat on both civil and criminal appeals but focused mostly on the latter.
Last month, Justice Mohammed delivered a landmark judgment in a lawsuit from a teenage rape victim, who claimed that her constitutional rights were breached by delays in prosecuting her attacker.
He ruled that citizens do not have the right to a speedy trial under the Constitution.
Acknowledging the crime surge affecting the country, Justice Mohammed stated that the physical, psychological and financial consequences of such will continue even if the criminal justice system has not dealt with alleged perpetrators.
Justice Mohammed said: “Notwithstanding the conclusions above, it must be said that the situation of victims of crime needs to be recognised and addressed in a sensitive, practical, and meaningful way.”
“However, these are matters which have political, administrative, legislative, and financial implications which cannot properly be addressed by a Court’s reading into the Constitution; a right which neither its language, structure, nor precedent permit,” he added.
Justice Mohammed’s temporary appointment is scheduled to end on August 10.