The Supreme Court of Seychelles (, ) is the highest trial court in Seychelles.
It was created in 1903 by Order in Council, when it consisted of one judge who was the chief justice of the court. Appeal cases with final judgments of the court in civil matters were transferred to the Supreme Court of Mauritius.
There was a right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London – which was abolished upon independence.
When Seychelles became a republic in 1976, a new Court of Appeal of Seychelles was constituted which consisted of a president, two justices of appeal and the judges of the Supreme Court as ex-officio members. Appeals to the Court of Civil Appeal of Mauritius and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council were abolished.
In 1993, under the new constitution, the judicial power of Seychelles is vested in the Supreme Court, a Court of Appeal, and such subordinate courts or tribunals that may be established by the legislature. The attorney-general and the judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the president from a list of candidates prepared by the Constitutional Appointments Authority. The head of the Supreme Court, who is also the head of the Judiciary, is entitled the chief justice. The other judges of the Supreme Court are referred to as puisne judges.
Chief Justices of the Crown Colony
IncumbentTenureNotesTook officeLeft office Fury Alfred Herchenroder19031905 (later Chief Justice of Mauritius, 1913)Eric Blackwood Wright19051909Alfred Karney Young19091913 (afterwards Attorney General of Fiji, 1913)Sir Ewen Reginald Logan19141919 (afterwards Chief Justice of the Bahamas, 1925)Sir Philip Bertie Petrides 19201924 (later Chief Justice of the Gold Coast, 1936)Sir Justin Louis Devaux19241927 (later Chief Justice of Mauritius, 1940)Robert Vere de Vere19271931 (afterwards Chief Justice of Grenada, 1931)Patrick Joseph Stanislaus Walsh19311936John Woodman OBE 19431947Malcolm Douglas Lyon 19481957 Sir France Bonnetard 1958 1966 Sir William Campbell Wylie 1966 1970 Sir Georges Souyave 1970 ?1976
Chief Justices of the Republic
IncumbentTenureNotesTook officeLeft officeJames Aiden O'Brien Quinn 1976 1977 (Expelled; afterwards Chief Justice of Kiribati, 1977–1980; Botswana, 1981–1987)Earle Edward Seaton 1978 1989 Isaac Kobina Donkor Abban 19901993 (afterwards Chief Justice of Ghana,1995)Vivekanand Alleear 1994 2009 Andrew Ranjan Perera2009Martin Stephen Egonda-Ntende 2009 2014 Durai Karunakaran served as acting chief justice from 2014 to 2015.Mathilda Twomey 2015 2020 Rony Goviden 2020
Current composition Rony Govinden – Chief Justice Mohan Burhan Gustave Dodin Melchior Vidot Laura Pillay Ellen Carolus Brassel Adeline Natasha Burian David Esparon Alexandra Madeleine Source:
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