News
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.
TCIG knew from April that fuel factor could surge almost 80%; Minister says $500 cost-of-living payment was part of Government’s response
PROVIDENCIALES — The Turks and Caicos Government knew months before July’s shocking electricity bills that consumers faced a potentially massive increase in the fuel factor.
Minister of Information Technology and Energy E. Jay Saunders revealed Friday that Pelican Energy warned his Ministry in April that generation fuel costs were projected to rise from $3.09 per gallon in May to $4.79 in June and July.
That translated into a projected fuel factor jump from about 17.5 cents to 31 cents per kilowatt-hour — an increase of almost 80%.
Saunders said he personally advised Cabinet of the projected increase and presented options for cushioning the impact.
He characterised Government’s $500 cost-of-living payment as its “initial response” to rising fuel costs, before a separate fuel-factor subsidy was approved.
Cabinet records show Government agreed on June 24 to provide funding to mitigate the fuel-factor impact, with the relief programme approved July 8.
Eligible residential customers — those averaging less than $1,500 monthly over the previous three bills — are capped at 22 cents per kWh from July through October.
Pelican confirmed Friday that Government’s contribution was already applied to July bills, meaning the bills now triggering widespread public outrage would have been even higher without the subsidy.
Saunders did not disclose the programme’s total cost.
His admission that Government knew since April, however, raises another question amid the backlash: why were consumers not directly warned by Government about the scale of the approaching increase?
NASSAU, Bahamas — More Bahamians are accessing HIV and sexually transmitted infection-related healthcare through National Health Insurance, a trend the NHI Authority says should be viewed positively.
NHIA stressed in an August 6 statement that its 2025 figures measure healthcare utilisation, not newly diagnosed infections. They include beneficiaries screened, treated, monitored or receiving follow-up care, including people diagnosed previously.
“Increased utilisation of these services should be viewed as a positive development,” NHIA said.
The Authority pointed to “greater enrolment and use of NHI, improved access to screening and testing, continued treatment and monitoring of existing conditions, and increased willingness to seek medical care.”
The development comes amid a mixed three-year HIV picture. New diagnoses rose from 130 in 2023 to 156 in 2024, before declining to 142 in 2025.
NHIA said increased utilisation demonstrates that more beneficiaries are accessing needed healthcare and actively managing their health, reinforcing the importance of screening, early diagnosis and continued treatment.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Americas has recorded 47,459 confirmed measles cases and 44 deaths in 2026, the region’s highest case count in 22 years, prompting the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to urge stronger vaccination, surveillance and rapid outbreak response.
As of July 18, cases were already more than triple the 15,011 recorded during all of 2025. Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Peru
account for 95% of confirmed cases. Guatemala leads with 30,371 cases and 26 deaths, followed by Mexico with 12,255 cases and 17 deaths.
PAHO classifies the regional public health risk as very high, citing active outbreaks, immunity gaps, international travel and populations with inadequate vaccination coverage.
The organization says prevention starts with vaccination. Countries are being urged to achieve and maintain at least 95% coverage with two doses of measles-containing vaccine, particularly protecting children and under-vaccinated communities.
Measles spreads through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a rash.
PAHO is urging health authorities to detect suspected cases early and respond rapidly to stop transmission. Unvaccinated and under-vaccinated people, young children and communities with limited healthcare access face increased risk of severe illness and death.
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