Prominent attorney at law Bert Samuels says a code of conduct for judges and magistrates is needed in the Caribbean.

He was responding to news that the United Kingdom Privy Council has ruled that a Jamaican judge be removed from the High Court in the Cayman Islands because of misbehaviour.

Priaya Levers practised law in Jamaica up to 2003 before leaving for the Cayman Islands.

Today the UK Privy Council upheld the ruling of a Tribunal which found that Judge Levers’ actions breached the principles of judicial conduct.
Samuels said steps are needed to preserve the judiciary.

It is reported that a Tribunal set up to hear complaints against the judge last year found that comments she made against her fellow judges in court on two occasions, constituted serious misconduct.

The tribunal also found that the judge’s actions violated the Bangalore principles of judicial conduct in relation to a sentencing hearing.

Judge Levers was also found guilty of serious misconduct in seeking to procure the acquittal of a defendant by improper means.

Meanwhile the Director of Public Prosecutions, Paula Llewellyn says the decision by the Privy Council is a timely reminder to all members of the legal profession that nothing less than the highest standards of conduct is expected.