Joanne Walsh the Chief Magistrate of Antigua and Barbuda, has been served with ten disciplinary charges have been filed against her by the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC).
According to reports reaching Nature Isle News (NIN), the JLSC is the institution under the Antigua and Barbuda Constitution Order – Section 87— that exercises disciplinary control over legal officers within its jurisdiction.
The body filed the charges after completing an investigation into complaints against the Chief Magistrate. Those charges have yet to be made public but reports indicate that the tribunal hearing is set to begin next month. A three-member panel of judges will oversee the hearing.
The Antigua Observer is reporting that one of Walsh’s lawyers Kenny Kentish states that the Chief Magistrate will “defend her charges”.
“Walsh herself did not wish to comment on the matter nor did the Attorney General Steadroy Benjamin,” the Antigua Observer stated.
There have been several complaints over the last three years about the magistrate’s conduct in office and her attitude towards staff.
According to the Observer, in October 2022, Hildred Simpson, Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Legal Affairs, attempted to initiate an investigation against her while Walsh acted as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). That case was thrown out of court because the High Court accepted that the PS had no authority to initiate the probe.
In April of that same year, social media personality Washington Bramble wrote to the JLSC, alleging that Walsh had committed acts of misconduct. The Commission assigned the High Court’s Deputy Registrar to be the investigating officer in the matter.
Prior to Bramble’s complaint, in 2020, St Peters MP Asot Michael accused the magistrate of “corruption and skullduggery” but later apologized, labeling his remarks as “inappropriate”. The MP had accused Walsh of exceeding her jurisdiction when she issued a bench warrant for his arrest due to his failure to turn up for a civil court hearing before her.
Walsh has dedicated more than two decades of her life to upholding justice in Antigua & Barbuda.
