Dame Janice M. Pereira,DBE
Chief Justice, Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
Dame Janice M. Pereira, DBE, LLD was sworn in as the first female Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court on 24th October, 2012. She joined the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court as a High Court Judge in 2003 and later was elevated to the position of Justice of Appeal in 2009. In May 2013 she was awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. In March 2018, she was called to the Bench as an Honorary Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple.
She became a Fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute in June 2018. The award of Honorary Doctorate of Laws was bestowed upon Dame Janice by the University of the West Indies in October, 2018. In October, 2019, Dame Janice was elected an Honorary Master of the Bench of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn.
She is the holder of several awards and has been recognized for her contributions in the field of law and the administration of justice. She has the distinction of other “firsts”: one of the first female Virgin Islanders to be called to the Bar of the Virgin Islands; the first Virgin Islander to be appointed to the Bench of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court; and the first female to be appointed to the Court of Appeal.