PRIME Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who is performing the functions of President has congratulated Justice Adrian Saunders on his ascension to the presidency of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

In a letter to Justice Saunders, Prime Minister Nagamootoo wrote, “I have followed, over many years, your distinguished career as a jurist, and remember with pride your appointment as Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and, later, as Judge of the CCJ.”

“Today,” Prime Minister Nagamootoo continued, “watching you take the Oath of Office as President (of the CCJ), I re-lived those moments, and I wish you all the best as you execute the responsibilities of this office.”

The prime minister recalled having first met Justice Saunders in the 1970s. “I also remember you as a budding lawyer whom I first met during 1976 in your native St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

You might have added some grey as well as an aura of distinction to your youthful appearance but, today I also saw in you the personality of an eminent home-grown, Caribbean legal scholar and jurist.” Prime Minister Nagamootoo also reaffirmed Guyana’s respect for the integrity of the CCJ as Guyana’s final court of appeal and expressed confidence in Justice Saunders as its new president.