The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) yesterday announced the passing of retired CCJ Judge, Justice Jacob Wit. Justice Wit was a member of the inaugural CCJ bench in 2005 and he served until his retirement in December 2023.
A release from the CCJ said that Justice Wit was an eminent jurist with wide legal expertise in private law, commercial and admiralty law, insurance, bankruptcy and insolvency, company law and intellectual property, criminal law, military law, administrative law, constitutional law, and international human rights law. Prior to joining the CCJ, he adjudicated over cases in Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, and the Dutch Windward Islands of Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, and Saba.
Justice Wit was part of the panel of judges who presided over a series of cases emanating from the March 2020 general elections in Guyana.
The CCJ said that Justice Wit was a polyglot, with fluency in several languages and will be remembered for his wit inside and outside of the courtroom. He also served as a Ranking Member of the CCJ Academy for Law and was the President of the Constitutional Court of Saint Maarten, a part time role. Recently, Justice Wit, a native of the Netherlands was the 2020 recipient of the Nederlandse Juristen Vereniging Award because of his long and effective contributions to forging and maintaining public trust in the judiciary in a turbulent environment.
CCJ President, Justice Adrian Saunders commented that “it is a sad day for the Court. Justice Wit and I worked together since 2005 when we formed part of the inaugural Bench of the Court. He was the lone Civil Law Judge on the current CCJ Bench with rich experience in military law, administrative law, constitutional law, and international human rights law. His involvement with the CCJ Academy for Law and his role in coordinating the Academy’s most recent Biennial Conference and Regional Town Hall focusing on crime, paired with his passion for regional criminal justice reform are recognised and deeply appreciated. I will certainly miss him and his contributions to the Court and to the region.”
Justice Wit was also fondly regarded and highly respected by his peers on the Bench, the Court, and the entire region, the court said.
