In a ceremonial special sitting of Grenada’s St George’s High Court held on September 14, the Caribbean nation’s legal community gathered to mark a pivotal moment for the local judiciary: honoring the departure of its longest-serving sitting judge, Paula Gilford, while formally welcoming incoming Justice Akilah Anderson to the bench.
Born in Guyana, Gilford departs the Grenadian bench after 13 years of service, a tenure that placed her at the heart of the country’s justice system and saw her preside over thousands of judgments and hundreds of the nation’s most complex criminal and civil trials. As she prepares to take up a new judicial post in St Kitts and Nevis on September 21 – a jurisdiction where she previously served early in her career – legal leaders across Grenada have hailed her lasting impact on the island’s criminal justice system.
Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Howard Pinnock emphasized the public trust Gilford rebuilt through her work on the bench. “Judges have to be mindful of maintaining confidence in the criminal justice system by the sentences they impose,” Pinnock told the assembled court. “And I say, my lady, without fear of no objection, that you have restored confidence in the criminal justice system in Grenada. That is one of your monuments.”
Longtime criminal defence attorney Jerry Edwin echoed that praise, highlighting the dual pillars that defined Gilford’s judicial approach: unwavering adherence to legal principle and consistent fairness. Describing her commitment to upholding the rule of law, Edwin noted “a stern observance to the law” that translated to firm sentencing that deterred repeat offenses. “She has meted out sentences that caused fear in the minds of many offenders,” Edwin said, before adding that the judge’s reputation for even-handed justice remained unchallenged: “She has a reputation for, yes, fairness… She would throw the book at you,” only when the facts of the case demanded it, he clarified.
In her own farewell remarks, Gilford reflected on the profound weight of judicial responsibility, emphasizing that every matter brought before her court touched real lives. “Every case represents real people facing real challenges, anxieties and hope,” she said. She added that the role of a judge carries “a profound responsibility to listen carefully, remain impartial and always strive to ensure that justice is administered fairly and without fear or favour.” Gilford also reaffirmed the critical role of judicial independence in sustaining public trust in Grenada’s democratic institutions.
The same ceremony that celebrated Gilford’s legacy introduced the justice who will succeed her at St George’s No. 1 High Court: Jamaican-born Akilah Anderson, a legal professional with more than 20 years of experience across a diverse range of practice areas, including environmental law, criminal law, constitutional law and administrative law. Anderson takes up her post at a time when Grenada’s judiciary faces a significant backlog of cases: the upcoming September Assizes is set to open with 85 matters listed on its official roll, including multiple long-pending criminal cases that have waited years for resolution.
Veteran criminal defence attorney George Prime noted that Anderson faces substantial challenges as she steps into the role, not least of which is filling the void left by Gilford’s decades of dedicated service. “The new judge has an uphill battle to now step into the shoes of Justice Gilford, who, in my humble view, has done a tremendous job,” Prime said.
As Gilford moves to her next appointment and Anderson settles into her new position, the moment marks both a conclusion of a defining era for Grenada’s justice system and the start of a new chapter, with the local legal community waiting to see how Anderson will navigate the heavy caseload and build on the foundation Gilford leaves behind.