JAMAICAN-BORN Queen's Counsel (QC), Ramon Alberga, is a legend in Caymanian law circles, having served the judiciary for 50 years.
On the Bench since 1963, Mr. Alberga, also of Portuguese extraction, was honoured for his achievements recently when he was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
He has lived and worked in Grand Cayman since early in 1976 and though he was given permanent status in 1982, his connection to the country of his birth are long and deep.
Before moving permanently to the Cayman Islands, Mr. Alberga was one of several key forces in the development of Jamaica's legal profession.
Mr. Alberga was called to the Bar of England and Wales by the Middle Temple and was admitted to practise as a barrister-at-law in all the Courts of Jamaica February 15, 1951.
Following internship in the chambers of a senior barrister in London, he returned to Jamaica in September 1952 to practise as a barrister. In 1976, he was admitted to the Cayman Bar to practise generally, having already established a thriving part-time practice here since 1963.
Serving as vice-president of the Jamaican Bar Association immediately after Jamaica took the big step of fusing the legal professions, Mr. Alberga assisted in steering the way forward as the separation of the roles and functions of solicitors and barristers was abandoned.
"I have really enjoyed my practice and the valuable friendships that have resulted therefrom," Mr. Alberga told a reporter from the Caymanian Compass newspaper.
Lauded by his peers, Mr. Alberga was also described by the Caymanian Compass newspaper as "a man with a sense of purpose which enables him to 'walk with Kings' while not losing the common touch."
Over the last 50 years, Mr. Alberga has been well featured in prominent, even history-making cases against or concerning government, the newspaper reported. It is this lack of fear or bias which makes him proud.
"I have always preferred the civil cases to the criminal cases and I have never turned away anyone who requested my assistance with a civil matter. I have always given my best effort to those I was asked to represent," he explained to the newspaper. "One of the things that give me great satisfaction is that the public always regards me as a person unafraid of taking cases against government...And in fairness to the politicians, and to their credit, they have never held my appearance in cases against them against me!"
Among those crossing his path was National Hero and former Prime Minister, the late Norman Manley QC (at a time when he was Leader of the Opposition), late Prime Minister and National Hero, Alexander Bustamante and his then Deputy Prime Minister, Hugh Shearer.
Mr. Alberga's impressive portfolio of local political litigants includes former members of the Caymanian executive council, among them Truman Bodden, Haig Bodden, the late Jim Bodden, John McLean, Benson Ebanks and the late Willie Farringdon as well as current Leader of Government Business, McKeeva Bush.
The Caymanian Compass detailed that in one local case involving the government, Mr. Alberga represented Raglan Roper, who had applied for judicial review of a decision by the then Caymanian Protection Board, refusing the renewal of his gainful occupation licence. Roper's appeal against the Board's decision to the Governor in Council was rejected, following which Mr. Alberga represented Roper in the Grand Court where the decisions against him were quashed.
This was the first case in which a decision of the Protection Board was taken to the Court for judicial review.
In another first, Mr. Alberga, while representing Island Companies Ltd., was also involved in history-making proceedings when the Executive Council for the first time ever sat in full and heard submissions from the legal representatives of all the parties. Both before and since in Appeals to Executive Council, such representations have been made in written form only, the Caymanian Compass reported.
Among Mr. Alberga's other prized achievements is having many of his cases recorded in the Cayman Islands Law Reports.
In subsequent years, the father of six and grandfather of nine has also served as consulting editor, working closely with publisher and editor-in-chief, Dr. Alan Milner, who paid tribute to Mr. Alberga in the volume, covering the period 1952-79.
An avid sports enthusiast, Mr. Alberga, married for 49 years to Cayman's Woman of the Year for 2000, Martha Partrica, is a past president of the Cayman Islands Tennis Club and has served as a director of that club for many years, according to the Caymanian Compass.
While at Wolmer's Boys', he served as head boy and captained the schools' tennis, hockey, athletics and rifle shooting teams.
Later, at Cambridge University, he earned his Blue in track athletics, (the first Jamaican to do so) and won the long jump at the Oxford versus Cambridge Athletics match in 1949.
He was also a member of the joint Oxford and Cambridge track team competing in the US against Princeton, Cornell and Harvard-Yale in 1949 before returning to Jamaica, where he, while partnering Arthur Scholefield, won the doubles in the All-Jamaica Lawn Tennis Tournament in 1959.
These rich and rounded personal achievements, he told the Caymanian Compass, have owed much to supportive and encouraging parents.
"I will continue to give advice and opinions, for I don't plan retirement yet," continued the grandfather, whose latest grandchild was born on November 3, last year.
