Monica Joseph
Dame Monica Theresa Joseph (10 January 1934 - 6 July 2023) was a Grenadian judge and public servant.
Early life and career
[edit]Joseph was born in Grenada[1] on 10 January 1934.[2] Prior to entering law, Joseph worked for ten years in a number of civil service departments until 1963, when she was granted study leave and went to the United Kingdom to study law.[3][4]
Legal career
[edit]In November 1966, Joseph was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn.[5] She then worked in the Grenadian Ministry of External Affairs.[1] In 1972, she moved to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and entered its Public Legal Service, working as a legal assistant, crown counsel, senior crown counsel, and then Solicitor General and Director of Public Prosecutions until 1982.[1][4]
Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
[edit]In 1982, Joseph was appointed as a judge of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States supreme court,[2] the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC), becoming the first woman to sit on the bench of the ECSC.[6][1] She then served as the first resident judge of the British Virgin Island and Anguilla, and later became resident judge of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.[1] In 1991, she became a justice of appeal for a year and then served a number of temporary stints on the ECSC court of appeal, and was the first woman to sit on the ECSC court of appeal.[1] She retired from the ECSC in 1996.[1]
In 2008, she returned to the ECSC, serving as a High Court Judge for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines until 2012.[1]
Post-legal career achievements
[edit]Following her retirement in 1996, Joseph was appointed Deputy to the Governor-General of Grenada under the New National Party government, meaning she served as acting governor-general a number of times.[2][1] She also served as Chair of the Grenada Public Service Commission, and was involved with various charitable organisations.[3]
Personal life
[edit]Joseph, a Roman Catholic,[2][1] died on 6 July 2023, aged 89.[2]
Awards
[edit]- Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE), 1997[3]
- Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE), 2013[7]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Tribute to Her Ladyship, the Hon. Dame Monica Joseph, Retired High Court Judge". Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. 24 July 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2025 – via Government of Saint Lucia.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Justice Monica Joseph passed away". The New Today. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
- 1 2 3 "Monica Theresa Joseph". University of the West Indies. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
- 1 2 "CV of Commissioner to the Inquiry". Government of Saint Lucia. 25 September 1997. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
- ↑ "Two women who served as High Court Judges in Dominica have passed". Nature Isle News. 18 July 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
- ↑ "St Vincent Bar mourns the passing of former Justice Monica Joseph". St Vincent Times. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
- ↑ "Newsletter" (PDF). Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Retrieved 28 November 2025.