Sir Charles Michael Dennis Byron (born 4 July 1943) is a former president of the

Caribbean Court of Justice The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ; nl, Caribisch Hof van Justitie; french: Cour Caribéenne de Justice) is the judicial institution of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Established in 2005, it is based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. ...

. He also serves as President of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, and is former President of the

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR; french: Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda; rw, Urukiko Mpanabyaha Mpuzamahanga Rwashyiriweho u Rwanda) was an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nation ...

(ICTR), and former Chief Justice of the

Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is a superior court of record for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), including six independent states: Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Ne ...

. He was born in

Basseterre Basseterre (; Saint Kitts Creole: ''Basterre'') is the capital and largest city of Saint Kitts and Nevis with an estimated population of 14,000 in 2018. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at , on the south western coast of Saint Kit ...

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain ...

Early life and career

Byron won the Leeward Islands Scholarship in 1960 and went on to read law at

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , establish ...

. At Fitzwilliam, he won his oar as a member of the college's top

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

team in the

May Bumps The May Bumps (also May Races, Mays) are a set of rowing races, held annually on the River Cam in Cambridge, England. They began in 1887 after separating from the Lent Bumps, the equivalent bumping races held at the end of February or start of M ...

for 1964. He graduated with an M.A and LL.B. in 1966. In 1965, he was called to the

Bar of England and Wales Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

by the

Honourable Society of the Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and W ...

. He distinguished himself in private practice as a

Barrister-at-Law A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and g ...

and Solicitor throughout the Leeward Islands, with Chambers in

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts, officially the Saint Christopher Island, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis cons ...

Nevis Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and ...

and

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The terr ...

from 1966 to 1982.

Judicial career

Sir Dennis Byron's judicial career began in 1982 at the age of 38 when he was appointed as a High Court Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, a federal Court serving six independent countries together with three

Crown Colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Council ...

of Great Britain. He was soon frequently sitting as a Court of Appeal Judge in an acting capacity before being appointed a substantive member of the Court of Appeal in 1990. In 1986, as Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Grenada, on secondment from the

, he presided over the famous murder trial involving the assassination of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Maurice Bishop Maurice Rupert Bishop (29 May 1944 – 19 October 1983) was a Grenadian revolutionary and the leader of New Jewel Movement – a Marxist–Leninist party which sought to prioritise socio-economic development, education, and black liberation � ...

– the longest criminal trial in Caribbean history. In 1995, over a five-month period, in tandem with Operation Uphold Democracy, Sir Dennis, with two other international Judges, and a full supporting team, organized judicial education programmes for the Haitian Judiciary. This was an initiative of the National Center for State Courts of the United States in the wake of the restoration of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti. In 1999, Judge Byron was appointed Chief Justice of the

, having acted in that position for two years. As Chief Justice, he was the supreme judicial officer of the courts of

, Antigua and Barbuda, the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = " Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Bri ...

, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat,

, Saint Lucia, and

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea w ...

. As Acting Chief Justice, Judge Byron made the establishment of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Judicial Reform Programme a matter of high priority. In 1997, he launched the Judicial Education Institute as a Committee of the Chief Justice's Office. The Committee produced a

Code of Ethics Ethical codes are adopted by organizations to assist members in understanding the difference between right and wrong and in applying that understanding to their decisions. An ethical code generally implies documents at three levels: codes of bus ...

for Judges, and organized a series of seminars and training programmes providing orientation for Judges, lawyers and trial Court Registrars. This Programme was a prelude to the modernisation of practice and procedure in litigation, which was brought to fruition when Chief Justice Byron introduced the new Civil Procedure Rules 2000, which came into operation as of 31 December 2000. These new Rules, tailored to the norms of the Eastern Caribbean, are in keeping with the ethos of judicial case management which informs the

Woolf Reforms The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) were introduced in 1997 as per the Civil Procedure Act 1997 by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee and are the rules of civil procedure used by the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice, and County Courts in civi ...

instituted in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1998. Byron was the first Chief Justice to implement the English-modelled

Civil Procedure Rules The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) were introduced in 1997 as per the Civil Procedure Act 1997 by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee and are the rules of civil procedure used by the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice, and County Courts in civil ...

in the Caribbean region. With these reforms, he set a three-fold objective, namely, the enhancement of public access to the Court by simplifying procedures, the reduction of the delay of litigation from start to finish, and the inculcation of a higher standard of professionalism at the Bar. Byron chaired the Rules Reform Committee, and hosted workshops for lawyers in different Caribbean islands, to which he invited a Judge, a Master and a leading practitioner from Canada to share their experiences and advice with regard to their own shift to case management by the Court. He has been President of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute in

Halifax, Canada Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

since the year 2000. In 2000, he was knighted by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

and he was appointed a member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council in 2004, making him only the second national of St. Kitts and Nevis to be appointed, following the appointment of the country's first Prime Minister, Dr Kennedy Simmonds, in 1984. Also in 2004, he was appointed as an Honorary Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. In March 2001, then Chief Justice Byron was a member of an international delegation of jurists who travelled to

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

on a Fact-Finding Mission on behalf of the Human Rights Institute of the

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA currently has a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associa ...

, inquiring into reports of abuses against the Rule of Law by the

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

Government. The 7-member Mission was headed by Lord Goldsmith, QC, who was soon to become Attorney General of England and Wales. The IBA is the world's leading organization of Bar Associations, Law Societies and legal practitioners, drawn from 183 countries and representing 2.5 million lawyers. At the invitation of then-

Secretary General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founde ...

, Judge Byron, while serving as Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, from which position he retired, became a permanent Judge of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

(ICTR) in 2004. The ICTR was established by the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

to try war crimes committed during the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed H ...

of nearly 1 million people in 1994. Sir Dennis was elected President of the Tribunal in May 2007 and re-elected for a second term in May 2009. He was elected and re-elected President by his fellow Judges. As President of the ICTR which is located in

Arusha Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census). Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern bran ...

, Tanzania, Sir Dennis is also an Under-Secretary General of the United Nations. He is responsible for the overall management of that International Tribunal and for liaising with Member States as well as the Security Council. He oversees the implementation of ICTR strategic policies and the management of its external relations. He provides the dedicated leadership and commitment for the realization of the Tribunal's overall Completion Strategy without sacrificing any of the vital safeguards of due process and

fair trial A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

rights. He has regularly addressed the Security Council of the United Nations in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to deliver six-monthly Reports on behalf of the Tribunal in his capacity as president on the progress of the Security Council's Completion Strategy. Byron sat on seven trial benches and served on a number of pre-trial benches while at the Tribunal. He presides over the multi-accused Karemera, et al. trial, also known as Government I, involving Édouard Karemera, former Minister of the Interior of Rwanda, and Matthieu Ngirumpatse, former President of the

MRND The National Revolutionary Movement for Development (french: Mouvement révolutionaire national pour le développement, MRND) was the ruling political party of Rwanda from 1975 to 1994 under President Juvénal Habyarimana. From 1978 to 1991, the M ...

. On 16 March 2011, he delivered the 9th Annual Ruth Steinkraus-Cohen International Law Lecture of the

United Nations Association A United Nations Association (UNA) is a non-governmental organization that exist in various countries to enhance the relationship between the people of member states and the United Nations to raise public awareness of the UN and its work, to promot ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

hosted by the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury a ...

of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He also holds the first Yogis & Keddy Chair in Human Rights Law at Dalhousie University. In 2010, Byron was made an Honorary

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

by his alma mater, Fitzwilliam College of Cambridge University. In a recent interview with

Radio Netherlands Worldwide Radio Netherlands (RNW; nl, Radio Nederland Wereldomroep) was a public radio and television network based in Hilversum, producing and transmitting programmes for international audiences outside the Netherlands from 1947 to 2012. Its services i ...

, he highlighted two judgments of the ICTR as trend-setting in

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

. Akayesu, which was the first case at the international level to interpret genocide in the light of the

Genocide Convention The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), or the Genocide Convention, is an international treaty that criminalizes genocide and obligates state parties to pursue the enforcement of its prohibition. It was ...

and is recognized as an authority in

International Criminal Law International criminal law (ICL) is a body of public international law designed to prohibit certain categories of conduct commonly viewed as serious atrocities and to make perpetrators of such conduct criminally accountable for their perpetrat ...

sexual violence Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion, act to traffic a person, or act directed against a person's sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim.World Health Organization., World re ...

in conflict situations. As a result of this precedent, rape is now a crime of genocide. In mid-March 2011, it was announced that Byron was appointed as the new President of the

(CCJ) during the recent

Caribbean Community The Caribbean Community (CARICOM or CC) is an intergovernmental organization that is a political and economic union of 15 member states (14 nation-states and one dependency) throughout the Caribbean. They have primary objectives to promote econo ...

( CARICOM) Heads of Government Inter-Sessional Summit in Grenada. This appointment followed a unanimous recommendation by the Regional and Judicial Legal Services Commission. He ended his tenure of four years as President of the

in May 2011 and was sworn in as President of the CCJ in his home country of

on 1 September 2011; he demitted office on 4 July 2018.

Personal life

Dennis Byron is the son of the late Vincent F. Byron Sr.,

M.B.E. Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

, former senior civil servant who served as

warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...

and who on occasion acted as Governor-General's deputy to former Governor-General Sir

Clement Arrindell Sir Clement Athelston Arrindell (19 April 1931 – 27 March 2011) was the first governor-general of Saint Kitts and Nevis, serving from 1983 to 1995, and also served as the country's final colonial governor, from 1981 to 1983. Arrindell was b ...

, Q.C., Sir Dennis's uncle-in-law. Vincent Byron Sr. and his wife, Pearl Byron, both died in 1998. Dennis Byron's sister, Helen Marcella Byron-Baker, was a former senior property manager at Durst Fetner, one of the largest property developers in New York. His younger brothers are Vincent F. Byron Jr., former St. Kitts and Nevis Ambassador to the Republic of China on

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

, and Terence Byron, CMG, who acted as Attorney-General of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis on a number of occasions between 1985 and 1995. Sir Dennis Byron is married to Lady Norma Byron, and is the father of four children.

References

External links