According to the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, the supreme law of the nation, the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago is the primary legal advisor to the
Government of Trinidad and Tobago
The politics of Trinidad and Tobago function within the framework of a unitary state regulated by a parliamentary democracy modelled on that of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, from which the country gained its independenc ...
.
Roles and function
The Attorney General is a member of the Government and has two separate constitutional roles, a governmental role, in which he acts as a Member of Government in the performance of his duties, and a role as the guardian of the public interest, when he acts independently in a quasi-judicial capacity.
The provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago require the Attorney General to be responsible for the administration of legal affairs within the country. Legal proceedings for and against the State must be taken in the name of the Attorney General (in the case of civil proceedings) and in the name of the State (in the case of criminal proceedings).
The Attorney General has responsibility for the following departments:
**Wholly Owned Enterprises
**Appointment to Quasi Judicial Bodies
**Law Reform
*Office of the Solicitor General
**Civil Litigation
**Legal Advice to the Government
*Office of Chief State Solicitor
**Administrator General
**Provisional Liquidator
**Provisional Receiver
**Public Trustee/Official Receiver
*Office of Chief Parliamentary Counsel
**Legislative Drafting
*Statutory Boards and other Bodies
**Corruption Investigation Bureau
**Anti-Corruption Squad
**Council of Legal Education
**Environmental Commission
**Equal Opportunity Commission
**Equal Opportunity Tribunal
**Hugh Wooding Law School
**Industrial Court
**Law Reform Commission
**Tax Appeal Board
List of attorneys-general
* ''Trinidad only''
*Gloster c.1805
*H. Fuller c.1828
*Wylie c.1832 (acting)
*Edward Jackson, c.1840 (died 1846)
*
Charles William Warner, 1844 to 1870
*George Garcia, 1870 to 1873
*Henry Ludlow, 1874 to 1886
*Stephen Herbert Gatty, 1886 to 1889
*''Trinidad united with Tobago, 1889''
*
Stephen Herbert Gatty, 1889 to ?1892
*George Lewis Garcia, 1892 to ?
[
* Vincent Brown, 1903 to ?
*]Henry Gollan
Sir Henry Cowper Gollan CBE KC (8 January 1868 – 5 August 1949) was a British lawyer and judge. He served as attorney general and chief justice of a number of British colonies in the early 20th century. His last position before retirement w ...
, 1911 to 1918
* Robert Stewart Aucher Warner, 1918 to ?1922
*Sir Atholl MacGregor
Sir Alasdair Duncan Atholl MacGregor KC (4 June 1883 – 30 October 1945) was a British lawyer and judge. He served as Attorney General in a number of British colonies in the early 20th century. He was Chief Justice of Hong Kong from 1933 to ...
, 1926 to 1929
*Charles Wilton Wood Greenidge
Charles Wilton Wood Greenidge was the vice president of the Anti-Slavery Society in 1968. He was secretary of the society from 1941-1956 and director from 1957–1958.
Early life
Greenidge was born on 10 January 1889 in the parish of St Jam ...
c.1930
*Sir Justin Louis Devaux
Sir Justin Louis Devaux (1884– 2 February 1943) was a St Lucian lawyer and colonial judge.
Born in St Lucia in the West Indies, Devaux was educated at St Mary's College, Castries. He then studied law at Lincoln's Inn, London, where he was "call ...
1935–1940
*Wilcox Wilson c.1945
*Joseph Leon Mathieu-Perez, c.1950 to 1957
*Sir Ellis Clarke
Sir Ellis Emmanuel Innocent Clarke (28 December 191730 December 2010) was the first President of Trinidad and Tobago and the second and last Governor-General. He was one of the main architects of Trinidad and Tobago's 1962 Independence constitu ...
, 1957 to 1961[
*]Benjamin Llewellyn Basil Pitt
Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...
, 1973 to 1976[
* Selwyn A. Richardson, 1976 to 1981][
*]Russell Martineau
Russell may refer to:
People
* Russell (given name)
* Russell (surname)
* Lady Russell (disambiguation)
* Lord Russell (disambiguation)
Places Australia
*Russell, Australian Capital Territory
* Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation)
**R ...
, 1981 to 1986 [
* Selwyn A. Richardson, 1986 to 1989][
*]Anthony Smart
Anthony Isidore Smart is a Trinidadian politician and lawyer. He served as a Member of Parliament from December 1986 to November 1991 and Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago from March 1989 to November 1991. He was also Political Leader of the ...
, 1989 to 1991 [
*]Keith Sobion
Keith may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters
* Keith (surname)
* Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949)
* Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons i ...
, 1991 to 1995[
* Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Nov. 1995 to Feb. 1996][
*]Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC (; born 16 September 1945) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician.
Early life
Ramesh Maharaj was born to Hindu Indo-Trinidadians, Dolly and Nanan Maharaj, on the 16th of September 1945 in Diamond Village, Trinidad ...
, Feb. 1996 to Oct. 2001[
* Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Oct. 2001 to Dec. 2001][
* Glenda Morean-Phillip, Dec. 2001 to Nov. 2003][
*John Jeremie, 2003 to 2007][
*]Bridgid Annisette-George
Bridgid Annisette-George is a Trinidad and Tobago lawyer and politician. She has been the Speaker of House of Representatives of Trinidad and Tobago since 2015, the second female to hold the position and currently the world's second longest ...
, 2007 to 2009[
*John Jeremie, May, 2009 to 2010][
* Anand Ramlogan, 2010 to 2015][
* Garvin Nicholas, 3 February 2015 to 9 September 2015][
*]Faris Al-Rawi
Faris Al-Rawi is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician. He was the former Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago from 2015 to 2022. He is also a Member of the House of Representatives for the constituency of San Fernando West.
Early life
...
, 9 September 2015 to 16 March 2022
*Reginald Armour Reginald Armour is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian lawyer who has served as Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago since March 16, 2022. He was named by Prime Minister Keith Rowley to replace Faris Al-Rawi. Upon his appointment, questions were asked b ...
, 16 March 2022 to ''present''
See also
* Justice ministry
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in ...
* Politics of Trinidad and Tobago
The politics of Trinidad and Tobago function within the framework of a unitary state regulated by a parliamentary democracy modelled on that of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, from which the country gained its indepen ...
References
{{Attorneys General of British overseas territories
Government of Trinidad and Tobago
Justice ministries