Dame Anita Mildred Allen DBE (born 21 December 1947) is the

President of the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas The President of the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas heads the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas. Legal basis The position of President of the Court of Appeal is authorised by Article 98(2)(a) of the Constitution of the Bahamas. Under Article 98(2)(b), ...

, a position which she has held since 30 November 2010.

Career

Allen became a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Bahamas in 1995, and was elevated to Senior Justice in 2005. She also served as Acting Chief Justice in 2007. In November 2010, she succeeded

Joan Sawyer Dame Joan Augusta Sawyer, DBE, PC (born 26 November 1940) is a Bahamian judge. She was Chief Justice of the Bahamas from 1996 to 2001 and President of the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas from 2001 to 2010. She was the first woman to ever serve ...

as President of the Court of Appeal. She thus became the second woman to hold that post, and the third women in a high position in the

judiciary of the Bahamas The basis of the Bahamian Law and legal system lies within the English Common Law tradition. Justices of the Supreme Court, Registrars and Magistrates are all appointed by The Governor-General acting on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Servi ...

. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the

2016 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2016 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

Personal life and education

Allen was born in New Providence. She did her secondary education at Government High School, her

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

at The College of Law in London, and her Certificate of Legal Drafting at the

University of the West Indies at Cave Hill University of the West Indies at Cave Hill is a public research university in Cave Hill, Barbados. It is one of five general campuses in the University of the West Indies system. It was the third campus to be established by the UWI System, follow ...

Cave Hill, Saint Michael, Barbados Cave Hill, St. Michael, is a suburban area situated in the parish of Saint Michael, Barbados. It is located about 4 km north-west of the capital city Bridgetown, along the west coast of Barbados. The University of the West Indies at Cave Hi ...

. She is married to former Cabinet Minister Algernon Allen. The couple have five children: Algernon Jr; Antoine, Aliya, Amil and Phylicia.

References

1947 births Living people Bahamian judges People from New Providence Presidents of the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas University of the West Indies alumni Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire {{Bahamas-bio-stub