After six years of resolute leadership, institutional reform and judicial modernisation, Chief Justice of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), Her Ladyship Justice Mabel Maame Agyemang, has announced her decision to demit office at the end of March 2026, bringing to a close one of the most consequential chapters in the recent history of the territory’s judiciary.
The announcement was made during the ceremonial opening of the 2026 Legal Year on Tuesday, January 6, an occasion that doubled as a moment of reflection on a tenure widely regarded by legal professionals and public officials as transformative, stabilising and historically significant.
Justice Agyemang was appointed Chief Justice on April 1, 2020, by former Governor Nigel Dakin, assuming office at a time of extraordinary global disruption.
The COVID-19 pandemic had paralysed court systems across jurisdictions, threatening access to justice and public confidence in legal institutions.
In Turks and Caicos, her calm, reform-oriented leadership proved decisive in navigating the crisis and laying the foundation for long-term institutional resilience.
One of the defining features of her tenure was a deliberate push to modernise the administration of justice.
Under her leadership, the judiciary expanded digital case management systems, embraced virtual and hybrid court hearings, and dismantled long-standing procedural bottlenecks that had contributed to delays and backlogs.
These reforms significantly enhanced access to justice across the islands, particularly for litigants and attorneys operating across multiple jurisdictions within the archipelago.
Beyond infrastructure and technology, Chief Justice Agyemang placed strong emphasis on judicial independence, professional development and ethical standards.
She championed continuous legal education for judges and magistrates, reinforced accountability mechanisms, and promoted a service-oriented culture within the courts.
Her leadership style was widely praised for combining firmness with fairness, and authority with approachability.
Criminal justice reform was another central pillar of her agenda. During her tenure, sustained efforts were made to reduce delays in criminal trials, improve coordination among justice sector institutions, and uphold constitutional safeguards while maintaining public safety.
At a time of heightened public scrutiny, these measures helped strengthen the credibility and responsiveness of the justice system.
Justice Agyemang’s impact was shaped in large part by her rare international judicial experience.
A Ghanaian by birth and training, she was called to the Ghana Bar in 1987 and rose steadily through the ranks of the judiciary, serving in Accra, Koforidua, Kumasi and Tema before her elevation to the High Court. She later served at the Ghana Court of Appeal, building a reputation for intellectual rigour and principled decision-making.
Her career then took on a distinctly global dimension. As a Commonwealth expert judge, she served in The Gambia, where she redefined expectations of judicial leadership, and in Swaziland (now Eswatini), where her ruling on the right to free education became a landmark constitutional decision.
In 2013, she returned to The Gambia as Chief Justice, becoming the first woman to hold that office in the country’s history.
Her tenure there coincided with the politically sensitive Yahya Jammeh era, during which she became known for defending judicial independence with integrity and courage.
When that independence proved inconvenient to power, she was removed from office.
Yet her professional standing endured. In 2020, she was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Turks and Caicos Islands, becoming one of the few African judges to head a judiciary outside the continent—and one of the rare jurists globally to serve as Chief Justice in two different countries.
Reappointed in 2023 for a second three-year term, Justice Agyemang ensured continuity in reform and institutional stability. By the time she exits office in 2026, she will have presided over one of the longest and most impactful chief justiceships in recent TCI history.
As the Turks and Caicos Islands prepares for a transition in judicial leadership, reflections on her legacy have centred on resilience, reform and an unwavering commitment to the rule of law. For many, her career represents more than personal achievement.
It stands as a powerful symbol of professional excellence, judicial independence and African leadership on the global stage.
An alumna of Wesley Girls’ High School in Ghana, Justice Mabel Agyemang’s journey—from Ghana’s courts to The Gambia, Eswatini and the Caribbean—is not merely a career trajectory, but a historic testament to courage, intellect and principled service.
Her contribution to the administration of justice in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and to Commonwealth jurisprudence more broadly, will endure long after her final day on the bench.
