Natasha Burian appointed new Master of Supreme Court |13 November 2021

Ms Burian taking her oaths before President Ramkalawan (Photo: Joena Meme)

Natasha Burian is the mew Master of the Supreme Court of Seychelles.

The 33-year-old took the oath of allegiance and the judiciary oath yesterday during a ceremony at State House, witnessed by President Wavel Ramkalawan.

Her appointment by the President follows recommendations from the Constitutional Appointments Authority (CAA).

A Master of the Supreme Court is a judicial officer tasked with dealing with uncontested civil cases and listening to these cases in ex-parte.

With amendments to the Curatelle Act, the Master of the Supreme Court also has been given the additional role of hearing all appointments of executors for wills or under the law, as well as related contested cases.

The ceremony was attended by First Lady Linda Ramkalawan,Vice-President Ahmed Afif, Chief Justice Ronny Govinden, Acting President of the Court of Appeal Fiona Robinson, Attorney General Frank Ally and secretary of state for Cabinet Affairs Mohamed Afif.

Ms Burian was accompanied by her husband, her parents and her two young children.

Justice Govinden noted that Ms Burian’s new appointment is a big relief for the judiciary since she can now clear all the backlogs that have accumulated and take on new cases.

“We had no Master [of Supreme Court] so all of these cases were not being heard or were being heard by a judge who had other duties to do. This means that, over a couple of months now, the cases have accumulated. We are very happy at this turn of event,” remarked Justice Govinden.

The Judiciary has been without a Master since the former Master of Supreme Court, Brassel Adeline, was sworn in as Judge of the Supreme Court in July this year.

On her part, Ms Burian said that she will strive to bring as much enthusiasm and dedication to her new office.

“I am very honoured to have this opportunity and thankful to the CAA and the President for putting their faith in me. I have worked extremely hard to get to where I am today and I am ready for the challenge that this promotion will bring. I plan to bring the same enthusiasm and discipline that I have brought as a Magistrate to this new position.”

“I am aware that there are a lot of files waiting for me. I believe that the Curator is to be appointed next week but I don’t know if they would be in the position to start sitting and hearing cases so the first thing I will be doing is to sit down with previous Master, Judge Adeline, and go through all the files. I plan to tackle these like with everything I do – very meticulously[…],” added Ms Burian.

Ms Burian holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from the University of Reading, in the United Kingdom, and was admitted to the Bar in July 2011.

She was admitted as a Member of the Honorable Society of the Inner Temple in 2010 and in September 2011 she commenced her Pupillage in Seychelles. She was admitted as an Attorney at Law on November 13, 2013 and later appointed as Notary on November 16, 2015.

Ms Burian had been serving as a Magistrate since 2017 up to her appointment yesterday.

She has also served as chairperson of the Rent board, Employment Tribunal, Mental Health Care Tribunal and also as vice-chairperson of the Family Tribunal.

Elsie Pointe