The Honourable Mr Justice Winston Anderson
The Hon. Mr. Justice Winston Charles Anderson is of Jamaican nationality and upbringing. He was born in Saint Ann’s Bay and raised in Brittonville, Saint Ann, Jamaica. He attended the Brittonville Primary School and later the Ferncourt High School in Clermont, Saint Ann from which he transferred to the Saint Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) in Kingston. He entered the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies (UWI) in 1980, and graduated in 1983 with the Degree of Bachelor of Laws, (Honours). From 1983 to 1984, he taught International Law, among other subjects, at the UWI Faculty of Law, whilst also pursuing the Masters in Law degree there.
In 1984, Mr Anderson proceeded on a Commonwealth Scholarship to Cambridge University in England and graduated with a Doctorate in Philosophy in 1988, majoring in International Law as well as Environmental Law. Also, in 1988, he completed a course of training at the Inns of Court School of Law in London (Honours) and was called to the Bar of England and Wales, as a Barrister of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn.
Dr Anderson re-joined the UWI Faculty of Law in 1988 and was called to the Bar of Barbados in 1989. He was awarded indefinite tenure at UWI in 1994. He served as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law and Head of the Teaching Department of the Faculty. From 1994-1995 he was Research Fellow at Sheffield University, England and in 1996 was appointed Senior Lecturer on Fellowship Leave at the University of Western Australia. In 1999, Dr Anderson became Senior Lecturer in the University of the West Indies on indefinite tenure.
Dr Anderson was appointed the General Counsel of the Caribbean Community Secretariat on secondment from the University of the West Indies, 2003-2006, and in 2006 was appointed Professor in the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies. Professor Anderson returned to the Faculty of Law in 2006 and was called to the Bar of Jamaica, also in 2006. He was appointed Executive Director of the Caribbean Law Institute Centre, in 2007, a position he held until June 2010.
On June 15, 2010 Professor Anderson was sworn in as Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice in a ceremony at King’s House, Jamaica, presided over by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen and attended by Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding and Leader of the Opposition the Most Hon. Portia Simpson-Miller, as well as other local and diplomatic dignitaries. The Hon Mr Justice Anderson has the distinction of being the first Jamaican and the youngest judge ever appointed to the CCJ.
In November 2011, Mr Justice Anderson was appointed Chair of the Caribbean Academy for Law and Court Administration (CALCA) the educational arm of the CCJ. He also chairs the CCJ Privileges and Immunities Committee, and the CCJ Committee on Guidelines, Administrative Decisions and Directives (GADDS).
In November 2012, Mr Justice Anderson was inducted as a founding member of the International Advisory Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (IAC/UNEP); the Council, composed of nine (9) senior judges and leading legal and environmental experts from around the world, is mandated to act as a global voice for environmental sustainability, giving guidance to UNEP, the OAS and other organizations.
Mr Justice Anderson’s major books include, The Law of Caribbean Marine Pollution, (Kluwer Law International, The Netherlands, 1997); Elements of Private International Law (Caribbean Law Publishers, 2003); and Private International Family Law (Caribbean Law Publishers, 2005). His latest book, Principles of Caribbean Environmental Law, was published by the Environmental Law Institute, (ELI), Washington, November, 2012.
The Honourable Mr Justice Anderson is married to Dr Sandra Anderson, a senior teacher in the public service of the Government of Barbados, and they have three children, Anessa, Aleisha and Anquan.