History has been made in the BVI with lawyer Jamal Smith’s latest appointment as the new chairman of the Labor Arbitration Tribunal, the first BVIslander to hold the post.
The announcement was made a few minutes ago in the 14th sitting of the second session of the fourth house of assembly by Minister of Natural Resources, Labor and Immigration, Honorable Vincent Wheatley, who has responsibility for the appointment of a new chairperson of the tribunal.
Minister Wheatley said “I am pleased to announce that Cabinet agreed that Mr. Jamal Smith be appointed as chairman with effect 1st August 2020, for a period of two years. He is the first Virgin Islander to hold this post since the creation of the tribunal.”
The tribunal had its first complaint in 2015 and over the years have had more than twenty-five matters. During that time there has been only two formal decisions handed down at the tribunal and some matters have been withdrawn. There are currently approximately fifteen outstanding matters, some dating back to 2015 with three new matters referred to it since August 2020.
As a result of a recent court decision that found that the tribunal was in breach of section 16:9 of the Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007 due to the inordinate length it has taken to resolve labor disputes for which the new chairman was involved, the Government decided it was necessary to restructure the tribunal to meet his human rights obligation to all parties involved. Minister Wheatley added “I’m confident that the new chairman will ensure this happens.”
Since the new chairman’s appointment he has swiftly implemented new procedural rules namely the Labor Code Arbitration Tribunal Procedure Rules 2020, #98 of 2020 that came into force on Monday 31st, August 2020. The chairman has since heard six of the outstanding matters in accordance with the new rules and additional outstanding matters have since been discontinued with dates having been scheduled for several others and hearing dates have already been set for the three new matters.
Based on the chairman’s directive and coronavirus-related restrictions, the matters will be heard virtually using the WebEx online system.
Lawyer Jamal Smith has served as a qualified legal practitioner since 2002, a former chairman of the BVICCHA, a former professional support lawyer in the BVI office of an international law firm representing employees, the owner of his own private practice with an affiliated office in Hong Kong, a member of the chartered institute of arbitrators based in London, as well as serving on various committees, including arbitrators within international trademark association based in New York.
284 Media would like to congratulate Mr. Smith on his appointment and wish him all the best in this new endeavor.