ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mrs. Deborah Thomas-Felix, is known and admired locally, regionally and internationally for her wealth of knowledge and experience as a judicial officer and court administrator.
In 1990, after practicing as an Attorney at Law, Mrs. Thomas-Felix became the youngest person in Trinidad and Tobago to be elevated to the bench as Magistrate. Within four short years, she attained the position of Senior Magistrate. In 1995, she made a career shift to assist the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines in the structuring and establishment of the Family Court of St Vincent and the Grenadines of which she became President. This court was the first Family Court to be established in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
By the year 2001, after a period of acting as Chief Magistrate, Mrs. Thomas-Felix attained the additional distinction of being the first woman to ever hold the position of Deputy Chief Magistrate in Trinidad and Tobago. In 2003, she was elevated to the position of Member of the Industrial Court of Trinidad and Tobago and served in that position for six years.
In 2009, Mrs. Thomas-Felix became the first woman (and third person) to be appointed Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission. After two (2) years of serving as Chairman, Mrs. Thomas-Felix was appointed President of the Industrial Court of Trinidad and Tobago by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. She became the first female to be appointed in that position and now serves as the sixth President of the Industrial Court.
In December 2014, Mrs. Thomas-Felix was appointed a Judge of the United Nations Appeals Tribunal (UNAT) and became the first Caribbean national to be appointed to that position. In 2015, she was elected Second Vice President and in June 2016, became the eighth President of the United Nations Appeals Tribunal.
In 2015, she was appointed by the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO)as a Member of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations – a Committee composed of twenty (20) of the world’s most eminent legal luminaries who are responsible for monitoring the application of international labour standards. She became the first Trinidad and Tobago national to be appointed a Member of the Committee.
On March 1, 2020, Mrs. Thomas-Felix was appointed a Member of the International Monetary Fund Administrative Tribunal (IMFAT), an independent judicial forum for the resolution of employment disputes arising between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its staff members. Like the United Nations Appeal Tribunal, she became the first Caribbean national to be appointed to that position.
Mrs. Thomas-Felix is an attorney at law who holds a Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B), a Certificate of Legal Education (L.E.C.), a Masters of Laws degree (LLM) in International Legal Studies and an Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA). She is also certified in International Arbitration in Oil and Gas cases, Mediation and Conciliation.
Apart from her Mayoral Award for National Service from the Port-of-Spain City Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago, Mrs. Thomas-Felix is among seventy of the most distinguished alumni in the region to be awarded for outstanding leadership by the University of the West Indies.