Guyanese and Caribbean legal luminary, Retired Justice Desiree Bernard dies

Last Updated on Friday, 29 March 2024, 21:55 by Writer

Justice Desiree Bernard

Internationally recognised Guyanese and Caribbean jurist, Retired Justice Desiree Bernard died on Thursday morning peacefully in her sleep at her residence in Trinidad, her daughter, Carol Bernard, said.

She turned 85 years old on 2nd March, 2023. “She went just as she lived—peacefully,” her daughter told Demerara Waves Online News.

The late Ms Bernard began her legal career in 1964 and went on to be the first female judge for the Caribbean Court of Justice which served from 2005 to 2014.  She was also a founding member of the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers (GAWL).

Justice Bernard was suffering from cancer and dementia.

Asked how best she remembered her mother, Counsel Bernard said “although being a judge, she never judged a soul.” “She was also a deeply religious person but she would never try to impress that upon you,” she said of her mother.

Having qualified as a solicitor in 1964, she practiced in the Guyana Law Courts until 1980, when she was appointed the first female judge in the High Court of the Supreme Court of Guyana, where she had practiced since 1965.

In 1992, Justice Bernard was appointed the first female Justice of Appeal in the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Guyana; in 1996, the first female Chief Justice; in 2001, the first female Chancellor of the Judiciary of Guyana and the Caribbean, and in 2005, the first female CCJ judge.

Chief Justice of Belize, Guyanese Louis Blenman paid tribute to Justice Bernard.

“Retired Judge Desiree Bernard JCCJ passing is a great loss to our region, to Guyana and me.
She was born in Plaisance Guyana, and we share that in common. She was one of my mentors and became a valued friend.
She was a female trailblazer as a lawyer and judge, both in Guyana and the wider Caribbean.
Her contributions to our region’s jurisprudence was recently quite fittingly recognised by the Caribbean Court of Justice Academy for Law, honouring her as a Pioneering Women Jurist.
She was beloved and revered. A dignified, calm, pleasant, graceful, kind and supportive lady. In addition, she was internationally recognised for her work and contributions, including as a Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice.
This is a very sad news for me.’

President Irfaan Ali also issued a statement of condolence.

“It is with profound sadness that I have learnt of the passing of a true icon of the legal profession, Justice (rtd.) Desiree Bernard. Her remarkable career as Chief Justice and Chancellor of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, alongside her esteemed tenure as a Justice of the Caribbean Court of Justice, left an indelible mark on our legal landscape, one that all Guyanese should take pride in.

Justice Bernard was a trailblazer for women in the field of law. Her stellar legal career, personal integrity, and her outstanding legacy, I am confident, will continue to inspire all who seek to serve within our legal system.

On behalf of the Government and people of Guyana, I extend my deepest condolences to her relatives and the entire legal fraternity. The loss of Justice Bernard is deeply felt, not just within our country but throughout the region.”

Justice Bernard served as a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the International Association of Women Judges and as Vice President of the International Federation of Women Lawyers. Regionally – a member of the Caribbean Council of Legal Education, President of the Organisation of the Commonwealth Caribbean Bar Associations.