'Stand firm': Newly appointed judges charged to continue good work

Philip Hamilton, Gleaner Writer

FOUR SENIOR resident magistrates were yesterday presented with instruments of appointment to act as Supreme Court judges while Justice Norma McIntosh was appointed to the Court of Appeal bench.

Resident Magistrate Sharon Ayton-George was appointed to act as master of chambers in the Supreme Court.

Frank Williams, Carol Edwards, Evan Brown, and Nicole Simmons were the senior resident magistrates appointed to act as puisne judges.

They were sworn in by Deputy Governor General Dr Gilbert Allen at King's House yesterday. The appointments take effect next Thursday.

President of the Court of Appeal Justice Seymour Panton charged the newly appointed judges to continue to do their best while honing their justice skills in their new posts.

He said Jamaica would benefit from their appointment.

He encouraged them not to be deterred from carrying out their duties by those seeking to further their own personal interests.

The Appeal Court president added that the court, which had been impressed with McIntosh's stint as an acting appellate judge between April 10 and July 31 last year, welcomed her appointment.

McIntosh, who began her legal career in 1975 as deputy clerk of courts, had been serving as a puisne judge in the Supreme Court since 2001, prior to her acting appointment in the Court of Appeal last year.