Justice Renaud honoured in ceremonial sitting |13 July 2019

The ceremonial sitting ...

The judiciary honoured Justice Bernardin Renaud on his last day in office yesterday with a ceremonial sitting in commemoration of his 54 long years of civil service.

The ceremonial sitting was to thank Judge Renaud for all that he had done for and contributed to the country and in particular to the judiciary all these years, wishing him the very best of luck in his future endeavour.

Justice Renaud, who is the longest serving judge, left the judiciary recently to take up a new post as chairman of the Seychelles Human Rights Commission. He was sworn in as chairman of the commission before President Danny Faure on July 3.

Present at the ceremonial sitting were the President of the Court of Appeal, Francis Macgregor; Chief Justice Mathilda Twomey, the secretary of state for Cabinet Affairs Mohamed Afif; magistrates; lawyers; representatives of the Bar Association and the Constitutional Appointment Authority (CAA); staff of the judiciary and other invited guests.

Many of his colleagues who took the stand praised Judge Renaud for his presiding and mentoring capacity and also for his passion, dedication and loyalty to the justice system.

Justice Twomey said that Justice Renaud had been a very good mentor to her and other colleagues in terms of making sure that the judiciary is respected and that the judiciary respects the rule of law and the Constitution of Seychelles.

Addressing the sitting, Justice Renaud said yesterday was a happy day for him and he was not sad from retiring from the Judiciary as he had served well, with his heart, mind and soul.

He further said that through taking his oath, all he had tried to achieve in his career is to do right and also tried not to offend somebody else.

Judge Renaud noted that life for him had not been easy though but he took life easy every day.

He further said that if he may have hurt someone in his career, it was surely not intentional but purely based on fair judgment without fear or favour.

Justice Renaud, who comes from a family of twelve, was very emotional when speaking about his greatest mentor his late father and the inspiration and champion of his life, his 93-year-old mother.

He said his father taught him never to hate, never to be killers, never to be envious and never to be greedy and also to only concentrate on his plate and not on the plate of others.

He said he had inculcated the same mentoring style of his father down to his children, his greatest treasures.

Justice Renaud noted that though he encountered some difficult moments in life, his father’s advice had made him surmount those difficulties and moulded him into what he is today, using love as the armor.

He took the opportunity to advise his colleagues to always strive to portrait things in a positive manner and thanked them for supporting him.

On his part, Justice Macgregor said that such an event will be repeated for other judges who leave the judiciary as it is better to honour and recognise a person when he or she is alive than at their funerals.

He noted that the person will better appreciate what he or she hears rather than being in a coffin.

Justice Macgregor also thanked Justice Renaud for his achievements and also his contributions to the judiciary and noted that he will never walk alone as judiciary will be there for assistance from interaction in line of duties. He wished Justice Renaud the best of luck.

Justice Ronny Govinden who intervened in the sitting latter said that judiciary will surely miss somebody with a vast experience in law as his presence has helped others in the judiciary to appreciate the different ways to deal with constitutional, criminal and civil cases.

To lawyer Nichol Gabriel, Judge Renaud was a calm person, ready to give advice and his judgment was well researched.

He said he was appreciative of the ceremonial sitting held to honour Judge Renaud as an encouragement for his continuous endeavour for the country.

As for setting up the ceremonial sitting in front of the Court of Appeal, a case was set up and ‘History versus Bernardin Renaud’ appeared before the President of the Court, Justice Macgregor, assisted by Chief Justice Mathilda Twomey, Judge Fiona Robinson and Judge Anthony Fernando.

The case was brought by lawyer Nichol Gabriel as the plaintiff and lawyer Bernard Georges as the defendant.

Justice Renaud was also received by President Danny Faure at State House earlier in the morning.