Seychelles: new Chief Justice announced, sworn in

13 November 2020 · Carmel Rickard

Supreme Court judge, Ronny Govinden, has been appointed as Chief Justice of Seychelles and was sworn in on November 9.

The new Chief Justice of Seychelles, Justice Ronny Govinden, has been a judge since 2017 and sits in both the criminal and civil divisions of the Supreme Court. His path to office began when he was called to the bar of Seychelles in 2000. Later he moved to the office of the Attorney General and from 2008 to 2017 he served as his country’s Attorney General.

According to an official statement issued by the judiciary of the Seychelles, the new CJ ‘has shown a keen interest in law reform’. As the country’s AG he ‘was at the forefront of the process to decriminalise homosexual offences, reduce minimum mandatory penalties and render the electoral laws constitutionally complaint.’

During the brief period between the departure of former CJ Mathilda Twomey and the installation of the new CJ, Justice Melchior Vidot presided as an acting head of the judiciary.

Carmel Rickard

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