The Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago is the highest judge of the state Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...

 and presides its Supreme Court of Judicature. He is appointed by a common decision of the President

President of Trinidad and Tobago

The President of Trinidad and Tobago is the head of state of Trinidad and Tobago, and the commander in chief of its armed forces. The office was established when the country became a republic in 1976, before which the head of state was Queen Elizabeth II...

, the Prime Minister and the leader of the main opposition party.

History

Tobago was claimed for England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 already by King James I

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

 in 1608, however in the following time saw varying rulers. In 1794, a planter was elected the first Chief Justice. The island was eventually ceded to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in 1814 at the Treaty of Paris

Treaty of Paris (1814)

The Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May 1814, ended the war between France and the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, following an armistice signed on 23 May between Charles, Count of Artois, and the allies...

 and from 1833 it was assigned to the colony of the British Windward Islands

British Windward Islands

The British Windward Islands was a British colony existing between 1833 and 1960 and consisting of the islands of Grenada, St Lucia, Saint Vincent, the Grenadines, Barbados , Tobago , and Dominica, previously included in the...

.

In 1797 Trinidad, who had been previously controlled by the Spanish Crown, was captured by a fleet commanded by Sir Ralph Abercromby

Ralph Abercromby

Sir Ralph Abercromby was a Scottish soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was noted for his services during the Napoleonic Wars, and served as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.He twice served as MP for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire, and was...

 and thus came under British government. The post of a Chief Justice was established in March of the same year. Both islands, Trinidad and Tobago were incorporated into a single colony in 1888, which gained its independence in 1962.

Chief Justices of the Island of Tobago

• 1794–1799: John Balfour
• ?
• 1805–1828 ?: Elphinstone Pigott
• ?
• 1832–1833: Richard Newton Bennett
• ?
• 1840–1841: Robert Nicholas Fynn
• 1841–1861: Edward Dyer Sanderson
• 1862–1867: Henry Iles Woodcock
• ?
• 1880–1882: James Sherrard Armstrong
  James Sherrard Armstrong
  James Shearer Armstrong was a Canadian lawyer, jurist, and landowner from Quebec. From 1871, he served as the Chief Justice for the colony of St. Lucia and in 1880, he was additionally appointed Chief Justice of Tobago...
  
  
• 1882–1888: John Worrell Carrington

Chief Judges of the Island of Trinidad

• 1797–1808: John Nihell
• 1808–1811: George Smith
• 1814–1818: John Thomas Bigge
• 1818–1830: Ashton Warner

Chief Justices of the Island of Trinidad

• 1832–1849: George Scotland
• 1849–1869: William George Knox
• 1870–1885: Joseph Needham
• 1886–1888: Sir John Gorrie
  John Gorrie (judge)
  Sir John Gorrie KB was a British judge who served through the British colonies of the nineteenth century.John Gorrie was born in the parish of Kettle, Fifeshire, Scotland. He was a son of the Rev. Daniel Gorrie, United Presbyterian Minister. He was educated at the village school, subsequently at...
  
  

Chief Justices of Trinidad and Tobago

• 1888–1892: Sir John Gorrie
  John Gorrie (judge)
  Sir John Gorrie KB was a British judge who served through the British colonies of the nineteenth century.John Gorrie was born in the parish of Kettle, Fifeshire, Scotland. He was a son of the Rev. Daniel Gorrie, United Presbyterian Minister. He was educated at the village school, subsequently at...
  
  
• 1892–1899: John Tankerville Goldney
• 1900–1903: Sir William John Anderson
• 1903–1907: Ernest Alfred Northcote
• 1908–1924: Alfred van Waterschoodt Lucie-Smith
  Alfred Lucie-Smith
  Sir Alfred van Waterschoodt Lucie-Smith was British colonial judge.Lucie-Smith was the second son of Sir John Lucie-Smith, a former Chief Justice of Jamaica, and his wife Marie, eldest daughter of J. R. van Waterschoodt...
  
  
• 1924–1926: Sir Stanley Fisher
• 1927–1930: Sir Philip James Macdonell
• 1930–1937: Charles Frederic Belcher
  Charles Frederic Belcher
  Sir Charles Frederic Belcher OBE was an Australian lawyer, author, British colonial jurist and amateur ornithologist.For much of his life he served the British Colonial Service in Africa and elsewhere. In 1930, he was appointed Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago, an office he held for the next...
  
  
• 1937–1943: Charles Cyril Gerathy
• 1943–1946: Henry William Butler Blackall
• 1946–1952: Cecil Furness-Smith
• 1952–1958: Joseph Leon Mathieu Perez
• 1958–1960: Stanley Eugene Gomes
  • 1961–1962: Arthur Hugh McShine, acting
• 1962–1968: Hugh Olliviere Beresford Wooding
• 1969–1972: Arthur Hugh McShine
• 1972–1983: Isaac Hyatali
• 1983–1985: Cecil Kelsick
• 1985–1995: Clinton Bernard
• 1995–2002: Michael de la Bastide
• 2002–2008: Satnarine Sharma
• 2008–present: Ivor Archie