Lawyers, scholars remember ‘legal giant’

By Emmanuel Joseph and Jenique Belgrave

The legal community is mourning a legal luminary in the courtroom and the classroom as tributes flow for Court of Appeal Justice Jefferson Cumberbatch, who died on Wednesday, aged 67.

“Barbados has lost one of its keenest legal minds,” Attorney General Dale Marshall, a former student of the late jurist, told Barbados TODAY. “He was the mainstay of the Faculty of Law, Cave Hill Campus for many years and as a lecturer, he would have had a hand in influencing generations of lawyers who passed through his many classes.

“Since the news of his death broke, I have received many messages from former students from all over the world expressing their deep sadness at his passing, and more than a few of them were from colleague Attorneys General in the region. I count myself fortunate for having been his student while I was in the law faculty and, in later years, I was pleased to have had Jeff work with me on various legal consultancies.”

Saying Justice Cumberbatch’s subsequent ascension to the Court of Appeal bench was hailed by many members of the bar, Marshall said: “We all welcomed the addition of his skill sets, honed in academia, to the Court of Appeal. Justice Cumberbatch did not disappoint.”

The Attorney General said that the legal field would be much poorer for “this untimely and devastating loss”.

In Supreme Court No. 5 on Thursday, Justice Pamela Beckles marked Justice Cumberbatch’s passing with a moment of silence, remembering him as a “fantastic lecturer”, while two of the island’s top criminal defence barristers paid tribute as both students and attorneys.

Justice Beckles recalled being taught contract law by the late justice at university.

“He… taught several of you as he… taught me. I will never forget him. He was a fantastic lecturer, and my sympathies go out to his wife Marcia, his children, his family and his friends. He will be missed,” she said.

Michael Lashley, SC said Justice Cumberbatch was a “legal giant” with a “dominant command of all legal issues”.

“On the occasions that I appeared before him, I experienced his vast knowledge of the law and his scholarship,” the senior counsel said. “His presence on the Court of Appeal impacted positively on the growth of our local jurisprudence.”

Andrew Pilgrim, SC reflected on Justice Cumberbatch’s lectures: “He brought his excellent analysis of legal concepts to bear on the matters without intimidating or overwhelming the litigants, many of whom were unrepresented. I will miss him dearly.”

Describing the law professor’s lectures as “robust and stimulating” during his time as a student in law school, Pilgrim recalled his first encounter with him on the bench.

“When he was elevated to the Court of Appeal, he continued to be personable and balanced in his approach. I was honoured to work closely with him on the Law Reform Commission, where his vast experience was a great boost to the discussions.”

Paying tribute to a fellow academic, Professor Don Marshall, Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies (SALISES), remembered Justice Cumberbatch as an exemplary university law lecturer, arbiter, and public intellectual.

“Whilst he was at the Cave Hill Campus, many colleagues, students and workers experienced or benefited from his congenial advice and sage wisdom in classrooms and committee meetings,” he said. “As an administrator, the full gamut of his understanding of the inner workings of the UWI governance system, its Charter and Ordinances was respected and sought.”

He suggested that Justice Cumberbatch would be remembered for his “erudite contributions on matters of law and just development”.

Professor Marshall declared: “The many compelling arguments he wrote will extend to folklore, simply because these beckoned attention and persuasive engagement of the mind. Never once has he been without respect, humour and wit to bear on any exchange. No doubt Jeff’s passing is a sad loss to the academy, the legal fraternity and among those who saw in his example, a relentless warrior for equity, justice and progressive outcomes.”

A “father of law”  was how Tameisha Sobers, a law student in her final year at the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad, described the law lecturer and jurist.

Emphasising his impact beyond Barbados, she said: “He was more than a lecturer, he became like this prominent figure in our lives as young potential attorneys.”

Defence attorney Shadia Simpson added: “Justice Cumberbatch contributed his time and brilliance to so many over the years. He was a legal luminary who will surely be missed.”

Speaking on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Principal State Counsel Neville Watson and Senior State Counsel Olivia Davis offered condolences to Justice Cumberbatch’s family and friends on Thursday.

In an extensive legal career spanning 35 years, Justice Cumberbatch served as chairman of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority for 20 years before his elevation to the Supreme Court in 2020.

A senior law lecturer and later deputy dean of the UWI law faculty from 1983 to 2019, he also ran a consulting practice in Commonwealth Caribbean Law from 2000 to 2019, while writing a weekly column on legal and social issues for the Barbados Advocate.

Serving briefly as Justice of Appeal for the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal in St Vincent and the Grenadines in 2021, he was a Commissioner on the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission which governs the Caribbean Court of Justice.
(EJ/JB)