THE Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is mourning the loss of University of the West Indies (UWI) Professor Ralph Carnegie who died last Friday. Acting Secretary-General of CARICOM Ms. Lolita Applewhaite, in a message of condolence to UWI, Mona Campus, Jamaica,  noted that it was with a “deep sense of loss” that the Community acknowledged the passing of Professor Carnegie.

Lauding his “inestimable contribution” to the Region, Ambassador Applewhaite noted that Professor Carnegie’s “formidable skills and intellect” were not confined to the University’s campuses, but were widely acclaimed as he functioned in the capacity of former Executive Director of the Caribbean Law Institute Centre (CLIC), an Associate Institution of the Caribbean Community, and as a Commissioner of the Regional Judicial and Legal Service Commission from September 2007 to August 2010.

Ambassador Applewhaite applauded the UWI Professor’s “consistent contribution to the furtherance of the integration process”, and noted that his passing would “leave academics, professionals and international civil servants alike with a sense of personal loss at the passing of a true gentleman and a brilliant but humble man.”

A pre-eminent international lawyer, who later excelled as a constitutional scholar, Professor Carnegie also worked with numerous member states in the latter field, as well as in several other areas of research and consultancies for the Community, including his seminal work on CARICOM institutions.

He was a member of The Technical Working Group on Governance appointed by Heads of Government of CARICOM that reported to the Eighteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government (February 2007, St. Vincent and the Grenadines).

Graduates of the UWI Faculty of Law at Cave Hill Campus are perennially indebted for the scholarship and wisdom imparted by this son of Jamaica, both in the Lecture Hall and the Tutorial Room. 

“His consistent contribution to the furtherance of the integration process, will leave academics, professionals and international civil servants alike with a sense of personal loss at the passing of a true gentleman and a brilliant but humble man,” Applewhaite said.

“On behalf of the Community, the Secretariat and on my own behalf, I wish to extend to the Government and people of Jamaica, the University of the West Indies and to the family of Professor Ralph Carnegie, my deepest condolences on the death of this committed citizen of the Caribbean,” she added.