Road Town, Tortola - His Lordship Chief Justice Hugh Rawlins after consultation with the Judicial and Legal Services Commission has approved the appointment of Ms. Tamia Richards to the post of Additional Magistrate.
Ms. Richards, who took up her appointment on April 7, received her Bachelor of Laws Degree in 2001 with Upper Second Class Honours from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. In 2003 she received a Legal Education Certificate of Merit from the Eugene Dupuch Law School in the Bahamas, which is one of the schools under the Council of Legal Education of the West Indies.
Ms. Richards joined the public service in August 2003 as a professional cadet in the Attorney General’s Chambers and once called to the Bar in October of that year; she was promoted to the post of crown counsel. In 2006 she was promoted to the post of senior crown counsel. She resigned from the public service with effect from August 2008 and in addition to her duties as additional magistrate, she is employed as an associate lawyer at Harney, Westwood and Reigels.
As additional magistrate Ms. Richards has jurisdiction to hear and pass rulings in all civil, criminal and quasi-criminal matters filed in the Magistrate’s Court. However, she would ordinarily be sitting in the event that both magistrates are conflicted and are not in a position to hear a case being presented.
British Virgin Islands News