Appointment of Court of Appeal Judge – The Honourable Madam Justice Indra Charles, J.A.

PRESS RELEASE 

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE 

Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, 1st May 2025 – Currently serving as a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of The Bahamas, Justice Indra Charles commenced her legal career following her graduation from the Sir Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad & Tobago. She subsequently pursued and completed a postgraduate Diploma in International Relations at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad & Tobago. Upon obtaining the Diploma with Honours, she entered private practice in the Chambers of Dr. Eneas Wills, SC, before relocating to Saint Lucia in July 1985.

In Saint Lucia, she held the positions of Deputy Registrar, Registrar, Magistrate and Chief Registrar. During her tenure as Chief Registrar, she also sat as a High Court Judge (Ag) on the benches of the Commonwealth of Dominica, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts & Nevis and the British Virgin Islands.

On 6 January 2000, Justice Charles was confirmed as a High Court Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, assigned to St. Lucia. In January 2005, she was assigned to the British Virgin Islands. In both St. Lucia and the BVI, she presided over matters in the criminal and civil/administrative/commercial divisions. During her seven-year tenure in the BVI and, at the request of the Chief Justice, she was assigned to other jurisdictions, most notably St. Kitts and Nevis where she presided over sensitive election petition matters in the twin-island federation. In addition, she acted as a Justice of Appeal on the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court on three separate occasions; the longest of which lasted four months in 2009.                                                                                                                                                                                      On 6 January 2012, Justice Charles was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. She served primarily in the criminal division until April 2016, at which time she transitioned to the civil and commercial/trust division. On 1 April 2022, she was conferred with the title of Senior Justice and, in October 2022, she acted briefly as Chief Justice. On 1 February 2023, Justice Charles was appointed a Justice of Appeal (Ag) of the Court of Appeal of The Bahamas. Three months later, she was confirmed in that position.

Justice Charles is, at present, a member of the Rules Committee of The Bahamas. Previously, she was the Deputy Chairman of the Working Group of the Rules Committee until their implementation in August 2022 (CPR 2022). She is also a contributing editor of the Caribbean Civil Court Practice, Third Edition, which was released in April 2024.

Her Ladyship has been a longstanding member of INSOL International since 2007 and, in more recent years, she has also been affiliated with the International Insolvency Institute. She has served on several INSOL panels. Over the years, she has delivered numerous papers at conferences held locally, regionally and internationally with a particular focus on the Civil Procedure Rules, Case Management, Insolvency Law, Asset-tracing and Asset-recovery. Over the course of her approximately 26 years on the bench, Justice Charles has produced a substantial body of jurisprudence, comprising hundreds of judgments. She is admitted to the Bars of Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago and St. Lucia.