The chief justice of Trinidad and Tobago is the highest judge of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and presides over its Supreme Court of Judicature.[1] He is appointed by a common decision of the president, the prime minister and the leader of the main opposition party.[1]
Tobago was claimed for England already by King James I in 1608, however in the following time saw varying rulers.[2] In 1794, a planter was elected the first chief justice.[3] The island was eventually ceded to the United Kingdom in 1814 at the Treaty of Paris[4] and from 1833 it was assigned to the colony of the British Windward Islands.[5]
In 1797 Trinidad, who had been previously controlled by the Spanish Crown, was captured by a fleet commanded by Sir Ralph Abercromby and thus came under British government.[6] The post of a chief justice was established in March of the same year.[7] Both islands, Trinidad and Tobago were incorporated into a single colony in 1888, which gained its independence in 1962.[8]