Sir Joaquim Claudino Gonsalves-Sabola, Kt Bach, SC, former Chief Justice and President of the Court of Appeal of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and Solicitor General and Judge of the High Court of Guyana, died on April 4, aged 80.
Sir Joaquim Claudino Gonsalves-SabolaSir Joaquim Claudino Gonsalves-Sabola was an eminent Guyanese judge. Like several other Guyanese jurists – such as Bertrand Adams, Maurice Churaman, Milton Ganpatsingh, Kenneth George, Sir Joseph Luckhoo, Stanley Moore and Aubrey van Sertima – he served with distinction in the judicial system of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. Unlike his fellow countrymen, however, Sir Joaquim reached the topmost posts first as a judge of the Supreme Court, then as Chief Justice and, finally, as President of the Court of Appeal.
Evidence of the high esteem he enjoyed in his adopted country was manifest at the ceremonial funeral at St Francis Xavier Cathedral in Nassau last month. Attended by the Governor-General, Prime Minister, Opposition leader, Chief Justice, President of the Court of Appeal, the cream of local society and members of the Cabinet, Parliament, the Bench and Bar, his casket was draped with the Bahamian National Flag and, upon completion of the committal service, the Bahamian National Anthem was played.
Sir Joaquim was effusively eulogized for his exemplary service. President of the Court of Appeal Dame Joan Sawyer attested that Sir Joaquim, as Chief Justice, “instituted a system of monthly meetings with justices. He held regular meetings with the Rules Committee as well as the Judicial and Legal Service Commission. He co-operated with all segments of the government and the legal profession in order to get the work of the courts done. He mentored the junior justices with both kind words and judicious behaviour at all times.”
Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett averred that “Sir Joaquim’s judicial career was marked by scholarship in his judgments, courtesy to those who appeared before him and by the urbane manner of his bearing as a judge.” He described Sir Joaquim a jurist who played an important role in the administration of the courts and who was instrumental in the preparation of the present Supreme Court Act and the enactment of the Judges Remunerations and Pensions Act.
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said that “Sir Joaquim had a great love and respect of the law and played a not insignificant role in early initiatives to modernize our laws and the practice of law in our country. He was highly regarded by his colleagues on the bench, by those in the legal profession who appeared before him and by Bahamians across the spectrum of our society.”
Opposition Leader Perry Christie said “Sir Joaquim embraced “our country with a patriotism, loyalty and commitment to duty that truly made him one of us… Sir Joaquim was a judge whose rulings were always distinguished by scholarship, understanding and a ‘firm grasp’ of the centrality of justice. He always carried himself with tremendous dignity.”
The tributes to this man who served the Judiciary of The Bahamas for 15 years were well deserved. Sir Joaquim Gonsalves-Sabola’s first appointment to the Bench was as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Bahamas in 1984. He held the office of Chief Justice from 1989 to 1995 and, on his retirement from that position, he was appointed as President of the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas from 1996 to 1999. At that time, the Bahamas Court of Appeal had ‘no fixed place of abode’ so Sir Joaquin found himself working from home. When he retired from the Bench, he worked as a consultant to the firm of McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes from 2000 until the time of his death last month.
He had vast exposure to civil and criminal law and appeals over a broad spectrum of public law including constitutional law for four decades. He adjudicated in many leading cases, at first instance and on appeal and was widely regarded as one of the leading experts in Bahamian law.
Sir Joaquim was born on October 2, 1929 – the youngest of four children of Augustus George and Mary Isabelle Gonsalves-Sabola – at No 51 Village on the Corentyne Coast, about 55 km from New Amsterdam. An observant Roman Catholic, he attended the St Thomas More Roman Catholic School on D’Urban Street and sang in the choir of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Georgetown where he grew up. He never attended secondary school but educated himself to become a pupil teacher and to study for the Junior and Senior Cambridge and various preliminary teachers’ examinations. So self-taught, he then travelled to the United Kingdom to pursue legal studies.
He was called to the Bar of England and Wales with the degree of an Utter Barrister of Gray’s Inn in 1958 and, on his return to Guyana, was also called to the Guyana Bar and began private practice as a barrister. He entered the government legal service and was appointed Crown Counsel in the Chambers of the Attorney General in 1961. He was promoted subsequently to Senior Crown Counsel, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, acting Director of Public Prosecutions and Solicitor General.
His time on the Bench began with his appointment as Justice of the Supreme Court in 1970 and this was followed by his appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal in 1981. He was allowed to retire from the judiciary in 1984 when he reached the age of 55 years. The same year, the Gonsalves-Sabola family emigrated to The Bahamas and Sir Joaquim eventually became a Bahamian citizen.
It was while serving as Solicitor General that he was appointed Senior Counsel by the Republic of Guyana and, while serving as Chief Justice, that he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom in recognition of his contribution to the judicial system of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas in 1995. He had been a Member of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn since 1956 and, since 1995, Honorary Master of the Bench of Gray’s Inn – the first Bahamian to be so honoured – and he participated actively in the Inn’s business to the extent that his commitments in the Bahamas permitted. He was also a former member of the Guyana Bar Association and the England and Wales Law Society.
His scholarly service included contributions to the Commonwealth Law Bulletin and, during his tenure as a Justice of the Supreme Court, editorship of the West Indian Law Reports and of the Law Reports of The Bahamas. As Chief Justice he was for six years a member of the Council of Legal Education of the Caribbean, the governing body of Caribbean Law Schools.
Sir Joaquim Gonsalves-Sabola married Sheila, née Ifill, on April 2, 1956 and the couple had three daughters – all attorneys-at-law – who survive him.