Cara Shillingford is a

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

n lawyer. She has brought several civil cases against the governments of various Caribbean countries, including the government of the Commonwealth of Dominica. In April 2024, she represented the Claimant in a High Court civil case contesting laws criminalizing "buggery" in Dominica and was successful.

Life

Shillingford was raised in Salisbury, Dominica. She is the daughter of Hillary Shillingford, a farmer and Sylvia Vidal who live in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

. She attended the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...

where she graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in law and she was accepted to the Bar in Dominica in October 2013. She operates her own chambers in Dominica, employing other lawyers. In 2014, she represented the Claimants in a civil case brought against fifteen politicians of the

Dominica Labour Party The Dominica Labour Party is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Dominica. History Founded in 1955 by Phyllis Shand Allfrey and Emmanuel Christopher Loblack, the Dominica Labour Party is the oldest political party in Dominica. ...

who were elected that year. The Claimants alleged that the politicians were involved in

treating In law and politics, treating is the act of serving food, drink, and other refreshments to influence people for political gain, often shortly before an election. In various countries, treating is considered a form of corruption, and is illegal ...

prior to the election. In 2018, she went to court to challenge the use of the Riot Act against over 50 citizens. In 2020, she was a founding member of the Committee of Concerned Lawyers (CCL), which is a group established by Dominican lawyers to ''"educate its members, to encourage collegiality and to maintain cooperation between its members and the judiciary, to promote the honour and dignity of the legal profession, to foster the highest professional standards of integrity, honour and courtesy in the legal profession, to assist the public in accessing legal services..."'' among other objectives. The CCL has stated that they have no common political or religious loyalties. They also stated that they intend to improve education in legal matters so that members of the public were aware of their rights. In 2023, she represented the Claimants in a High Court civil case brought against the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines for wrongful termination of nine employees whose employment was terminated due to their refusal to take the

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and fun ...

. Anthony Astaphan represented the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Shillingford argued that the termination of the Claimants' employment was unconstitutional and the Court ruled in her favour. Also in 2023, Shillingford advocated for the creation of a constituency solely for the Dominican diaspora. In April 2024, Shillingford persuaded the High Court of Justice to overturn laws banning same-sex activity because they violated the constitutional rights of LGBT individuals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shillingford, Cara Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Dominica women lawyers 21st-century women lawyers University of the West Indies alumni