Judge Paula Mae Weekes could become Trinidad & Tobago’s first ever woman head of state

A Court of Appeal judge, Paula Mae Weekes, has been nominated as Trinidad & Tobago’s choice to replace Antony Carmona as president of the twin-island republic.

If elected, she becomes the first woman to become a head of state since the country attained political independence.

The Electoral College meets on January 19 to elect a successor to Carmona, whose 5-year term ends in March.

Weekes was appointed to the Court of Appeal in the Turks & Caicos Islands in September, 2016 for a term of 3 years.
She could become the 2nd prominent regional jurist to be elevated to the post of head of state, following the decision of the Barbados government to name Sandra Mason as the island-nation’s 8th Governor General.

Weekes is also a former Justice of Appeal of the Judiciary of Trinidad & Tobago where she served for 11 years until her retirement in 2016. She was appointed a Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Trinidad & Tobago (Criminal Jurisdiction) in 1996 where she presided for 9 years before being elevated to the Court of Appeal.
Prior to her appointment to the Bench, Weekes served with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for 11 years and in private practice from 1993.

She is a graduate of The University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Hugh Wooding Law School. She is a trained and experienced judicial educator, having become a fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute in 2000. She has designed and delivered initiatives extensively in Trinidad & Tobago and also in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Jamaica over the years. – (CMC)