Judge - Haiti Observer Blog

The year 1990 -1991 saw a woman adorning the seat of the president of Haiti and this was the first time it was happening in the history of Haiti. Ertha Pascal Trouillot was the ninth child of a family of ten children. At the age of 10 she was sent to be mentored under Ernst Trouillot, along with one of her brothers.

Judge for Many Years

Though she wished to pursue a career in science she was directed by her mentor to law and later into politics. He wanted to be with and this later led to the marriage of the two, even though he was 21 years her senior.

Read more →  

Emile Jonassaint was born on May 20th 1913 and became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Haiti and later served as the president for a short period. Earlier the military regime had forced Jean Bernard Aristide to move out of the country.

Crimes by the Army

After a few years from May 12th to October 12th 1994, Emile Jonassaint functioned as the Head of the Provisional Government. During his tenure it is alleged that some of the most inhuman crimes were meted out by the Haitian army.

Read more →  

Boniface Alexandre the 54th President of Haiti assumed office in the year 2004 and stepped down in the year 2006. He took over the post from Jean-Bertrand Aristide and he was succeeded by Rene Preval. Born on 31st 1936, he was groomed by his uncle, the first Prime Minister Martial Celestin of Haiti.
Honest Chief Justice

Boniface Alexandre was known for his honesty amidst the corrupt system of Haiti. He was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court when Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled the country. Within six hours he took charge of the country and declared himself as the President

Read more →  

Joseph Nerette was born on April 9th in the year 1924. He lived for 83 years and his life saw many ups and downs. He was popular Haitian judge and had a long political career which culminated as the President of Haiti.

Provisional President

Joseph Nérette was the 48th president of Haiti. While he served his term as the president of Haiti Jean-Jacques Honorat was the Prime Minister. He was a provisional president of Haiti as the actual power rested with the military.

The military was headed by Michel Francois and Raoul Cedras who were really powerful leaders. As the power rested with the military there were no major changes initiated by Joseph Nérette as a president of Haiti.

Read more →  

Haiti's court system is basically designed after the French system of civil law, the Roman Law and the Napoleonic Code. It is divided into four levels. The highest level is the Court de Cassation, which is also known as the Supreme Court. Under it are the Courts of Appeals, Courts of First Instance and Justice of the Peace Courts. Each level hast its own kinds of cases to hear and deal with.

The Court of Cassation is composed of a president, vice-president and ten judges. The Supreme Court president is usually chosen and appointed by the country's president. There are certain requirements for Supreme Court judges. One has to be at least 30 years old and should have a decade of law practice. Only judges who have served as a judge or a public lawyer for seven years are qualified for the Supreme Court seat. The highest court deals with matters involving law and decree unconstitutionality.

Read more →  

A case too hot to handle. Judge Joseph Jeudilien Fanfan who was in charge of the rape case between Me Joshue Pierre-Louis and Danielle Marie Bernadin now has to worry about his own safety.

According to the information received at Haiti Observer office, Judge Joseph Jeudilien Fanfan received Death threat in case he remove the travel ban on former Justice Minister and current CEP President, Mr. Joshue Pierre-Louis. The alleged victim, Danielle Marie Bernadin, was heard by Judge Joseph Fanfan Jeudilien, accompanied by his lawyers.

Reynold Georges is confident that Judge Joseph Fanfan Jeudilien would be back on its decision as the situation did not for this action.

Read more →  

Despite the changing gender roles and the growing feminist movement, female presidents or heads of state are quite rare in Haiti. One of these very few powerful women in history is former Haitian president Ertha Pascal-Trouillot. Politics has always been said to be meant for males as power and control are often associated with being a man. But as time went by, women began competing with this notion and have been made leaders and politicians along with men.

Pascal-Trouillot was born in a suburb of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince in 1943. Her father was an iron worker while her mother was a seamstress and was the ninth child of their ten children. The future president acquired a law degree from the prestigious École de Droit des Gonaives and was a judge for federal courts for more than ten years. She then became the first woman justice of the country's Supreme Court. And in 1990, Pascal-Trouillot was proclaimed as Haiti's temporary president after the successful revolt against former president Prosper Avril which put him out of office.

Read more →