His Lordship, the Hon. Justice Gerard St. Clair Farara, QC
His Lordship, the Hon. Justice Gerard St. Clair Farara, QC was born in Tortola, British Virgin Islands (BVI) on 31st August 1954. He received his early education at the British Virgin Islands Secondary School and the British Virgins Islands High School. In 1975, Justice Farara obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree with upper second class honours from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. Thereafter he attended the Norman Manley Law School in Kingston, Jamaica, and received the Legal Education Certificate upon completion of his studies in 1977. Justice Farara was admitted to practise in the British Virgin Islands on the 3rd October 1977 and has subsequently been admitted to the Bar of several other Eastern Caribbean States.
Justice Farara began his legal career as Crown Counsel in the Attorney General’s Chambers in the British Virgin Islands from 1977 to 1978. Between 1978 to 1985 he held the position of Associate in the Chambers of J.S. Archibald & Company in Tortola, BVI.I in 1985 Justice Farara founded his own private legal practice which subsequently expanded into a law firm with other distinguished partners and associates becoming one of the leading commercial and civil law firms in the BVI. From 1985 to December 2016 Justice Farara was held the position of senior partner and the Head of Litigation in the law Firm of Farara Kerins. In January 2017 Justice Farara continued to serve as senior partner and Head of Litigation when his firm merged with the offshore law firm of Collas Crill with offices in Jersely, gurnsey, London, Cayman Islands and Singapore. He held this position and that of managing partner until his retirement on 31st December 2019.
While Justice Farara specialises in commercial, corporate and insolvency law, he possesses extensive practical experience in multiple areas of law ranging from civil, commercial, corporate and criminal law. He has appeared as lead counsel or co-counsel at all levels of the judicial system in the Eastern Caribbean as well as before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. In 1996, Justice Farara was elevated to the rank of Queen’s Counsel.
Between 1997- 2017 Justice Farara held several temporary and acting appointments as a judge of the High Court, including as a judge of the Commercial Division in the BVI, and also of the Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. On 1st June 2020 Justice Farara was appointed as a judge of the Court of Appeal of The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.
Justice Farara is of the firm belief that one must give back to their profession and and community. As such, during his tenure at the private Bar in the British Virgin Islands he served as Secretary of the BVI Bar Association.
Justice Farara has also served as Chairman of the following Boards and Committees: Swedish Scholarships Foundations, BVI Recreation Trust, BVI Social Security Appeals Tribunal, Constitutional Review Commission, BVI Ad Hoc Committee to review Immigration and Passport Act, 1977, St. George’s Secondary School Expansion Committee, the St. George’s Secondary School and the Main Street Association. He also served with distinction as a member of the BVI Forward Steering Committee established by the then premier of the BVI where he chaired the Sub-Committee and authored the Report on Immigration and Labour Reform. He also served as President of the Rotary Club of Tortola (the first and longest standing Rotary Club in the BVI) and as Assistant District Governor for Rotary District 7020, and sat on several other boards of schools and statutory bodies. Justice Farara is also a past member of the BVI Bar Association and Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Bar Association; World Jurist Association, International Bar Association and Commonwealth Bar Association.
Despite Justice Farara’s busy legal career, he continues to give back through his civic duties by delivering keynote addresses at various events within and outside the BVI including at his alma mater, the Cave Hill Campus of UWI, from which institution he was bestowed with the Pelican Award.. He regularly answers the call to share his experience and expertise regionally and internationally. Notably, in December 2017 Justice Farara gave the Keynote Address to Public Law Officers in BVI on the topic of “The Role of the Law Officer in a Modern Public Service” and on the inaugural event recognizing outstanding public servants in BVI where he delivered on the topic “A Bi-Metal Strip: What is our Coefficient of Linear Expansion”.. More recently, he was also the key note speaker at the 4th Annual Sir Vincent Floissac Memorial Public Lecture in November 2018 where he discussed Judicial Review and the topic: “The Concept of Legitimate Expectation – Modern Tools in Upholding the Rule of Law”.
Justice Farara is married and is the father of three children.