The Governor, Peter Beckingham, greeted the new Turks and Caicos Islands Chief Magistrate at her swearing-in ceremony in Providenciales on 18 August. Mrs Tanya Lobban-Jackson (pictured with the Governor), originally from Jamaica, has most recently been Senior Crown Counsel in Cayman Islands. She will be joined in TCI by her husband and two young children.
The Governor and Chief Magistrate also met in TCI on 23 August with Ms Hilary Ryan, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s newly appointed Criminal Justice Adviser to the Caribbean Overseas Territories. Ms Ryan, who will be based in Miami, will have a particular focus on child safe-guarding, serious crime and money laundering, and the criminal justice system.
After her visit the Governor said: “I hope that Ms Ryan’s new role will encourage all the parts of TCI involved in criminal justice to look to the UK for advice and possibly financial assistance. We had very positive discussions with the Chief Justice, Police Commissioner, Acting DPP, Prison Superintendent as well as with the Chief Magistrate and Court Administrator about their work, and identified a number of areas where more support may be possible from the UK. Ms Ryan also highlighted the value in other jurisdictions of a Criminal Justice Board of senior practitioners, which could be a helpful mechanism as well in Turks and Caicos.”
Ms Ryan is a career Prosecutor, having joined the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service in 1986. For many years she specialised in the field of rape and child abuse. She has most recently been attached to the British Embassy in Washington where she worked closely with the US Department of Justice.
