The Chief Justice

The Honourable the Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago
Mr. Justice Ivor Archie O.R.T.T.

The Honourable the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Ivor Archie O.R.T.T., graduated from the University of the West Indies in 1980 with a Bachelor of Sciences Degree (Upper Second Class Honours) after pursuing the three year programme in Mechanical Engineering at the St Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago. Before proceeding two years later to study law at the University of South Hampton in the United Kingdom, he practiced as an engineer, firstly at Trintoplan Consultants Limited in Trinidad, and then with Schlumberger (Africa) as a Wireline Logging Engineer stationed in Lybia.

Mr Justice Archie returned to Trinidad and Tobago in 1984 shortly after obtaining his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from South Hampton. He immediately entered the Hugh Wooding Law School at St Augustine where, following the two-year programme, he received his Legal Education Certificate (LEC), attaining as well the award for the most outstanding performance during his studies.

He was admitted to the Bar of Trinidad and Tobago, and began his legal career in private practice with the reputable firm, Clarke and Company, and then in service to the Governments of Trinidad and Tobago, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Cayman Islands as State Counsel and Senior Crown Counsel. He also served as Solicitor General of the Cayman Islands, and acted as the territory’s Attorney General on a number of occasions.

He came back to Trinidad and Tobago in 1998, when on March 1 of that year he was appointed a Puisne Judge of this country’s Supreme Court of Judicature. He became a Judge of the Trinidad and Tobago Court of Appeal on April 2, 2004, and was sworn in as Trinidad and Tobago’s Chief Justice on January 24, 2008, the eighth such office holder since the country’s independence and creating history as the youngest person to have assumed that position in Trinidad and Tobago. As Chief Justice, Mr Justice Archie is also President of the Court of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Honourable the Chief Justice has spearheaded many initiatives geared towards the improvement of the administration of justice in Trinidad and Tobago. These included the widespread application of information communication technologies in the Courts, enhanced collaboration with stakeholders in the justice sector, and the creation of a business model approach to the administration of justice. He has also been the visionary behind the establishment of a strong customer service thrust in the Judiciary, and more recently has been at the helm of major exercise aimed at transforming the Judiciary into a high performing professional organisation.

The Honourable the Chief Justice serves as Chairman of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) which makes recommendations on judicial appointments in Trinidad and Tobago. He is also President of the Trinidad and Tobago Judicial Education Institute, and was recently nominated to the Board of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute of which he is a Fellow. He is a qualified trainer of persons responsible for the design and delivery of judicial education programs.

Outside of his professional life, Mr Justice Archie is a Minister/Elder at his local church assembly, and the founding member of Tobago United Sports Foundation (formerly Tobago United Football Club), a non-profit foundation with a mission to develop leadership and life skills among youth in Tobago where he was born on August 18, 1960. He had his Primary education at the Scarborough Anglican Boys’ School, graduated to the Secondary Level at Bishop’s High School also in Scarborough, and further, at St Mary’s College in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where he completed his Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations respectively.

The Honourable the Chief Justice has interests which range from theology to music, and he is in fact a member of one of Trinidad and Tobago’s best known and celebrated choir, the Lydians.

He is married to Denise Rodriguez Archie and has two children.