Justice Desiree Bernard, who is set to retire as a judge in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in the near future, has left a legacy locally, regionally and internationally not just as a woman in the judiciary but also as a tireless worker on women and gender equality issues.
And while she is retiring from the CCJ as a judge, a position she has held since April 2005, Justice Bernard will still be functioning as a judge on the Inter-American Administrative Tribunal, a post she was appointed to in February 2011.
As a woman Justice Bernard boasts many firsts, starting with being the first and only female to be appointed President of the Organisation of Commonwealth Caribbean Bar Associations (OCCBA) in 1976; the first female Chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Guyana, and the first in the Province of the West Indies in 1994. In 1980 she became the