Dame Anita Mildred Allen DBE (born 21 December 1947) is the President of the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas, a position which she has held since 30 November 2010.

Career

Allen became a Justice of the

Supreme Court of the Bahamas The Supreme Court of the Bahamas is the third highest court in the adjudicative hierarchy of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The court was created by Article 93(1) of the Constitution. Before that, the Supreme Court was governed by the Supreme ...

in 1995, and was elevated to Senior Justice in 2005. She also served as Acting Chief Justice in 2007. In November 2010, she succeeded Joan Sawyer as President of the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

. She thus became the second woman to hold that post, and the third women in a high position in the judiciary of the Bahamas. She was appointed

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(DBE) in the

2016 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2016 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

Personal life and education

Allen was born in

New Providence New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It is the location of the national capital city of Nassau, whose boundaries are coincident with the island; it had a population of 246 ...

. She did her secondary education at

Government High School A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, her LL.B. at The College of Law in London, and her Certificate of Legal Drafting at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill in Cave Hill, Saint Michael, Barbados. She is married to former Cabinet Minister Algernon Allen. The couple have five children: Algernon Jr; Antoine, Aliya, Amil and Phylicia.

References

1947 births Living people Bahamian judges People from New Providence Presidents of the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas University of the West Indies alumni Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire {{Bahamas-bio-stub