Press Release – Government Press Office (Belmopan) – July 6, 2011- Attorney-General, Hon. Bernard Q. Pitts, has informed that a new Solicitor-General, has taken up duties. Mrs. Cheryl Krusen (neeThompson) succeeds Mr. Oscar Ramjeet, who completed his tour of duty on June 30, 2011. Mrs. Krusen assumed duties on July 1, 2011.
Cheryl Krusen (nee Thompson), a Jamaican and Belizean national, is an Attorney-at-law with more than thirty years of experience in the legal profession. Her inherent love of national, regional and international law have been her primary focus for many years, relating them in particular towards assisting the development of jurisprudence in the Caribbean region. The new Solicitor-General obtained her LL.B (Hons.) from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus in 1978 and completed her Legal Education Certificate at the Norman Manley Law School, Kingston Jamaica in 1980. She was awarded an M Sc. from the Mona Campus at the University of the West Indies in 1996.
Mrs. Krusen’s career has included such notable roles as Crown Counsel in the Office of the Director of Prosecutions, Belize; Magistrate for the Judicial Districts of Belize and Corozal, Belize; Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court of Jamaica; Senior Legal Officer at the Port Authority of Jamaica; Director of Legal Services at the National Housing Trust of Jamaica; Legal Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives of Jamaica; and Head of the Legal Unit/Legal Adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica. She has represented Jamaica in numerous international fora and contributed significantly as a member of the Task Force and Drafting Committee which amended the Treaty of Chaguaramas – the instrument creating CARICOM, including the Single Market and Economy (CSME). Mrs. Krusen was also actively involved in the process of advising on the instruments which led to the formation of the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Mrs. Krusen worked with the Commonwealth Secretariat in London from 2002–2008 as Adviser and Head of the Law Development Section charged with responsibility for international legal issues involving, inter alia, national and international tribunal matters for Member Countries.
From April 2008–October 2010, Mrs. Krusen was named General Counsel for CARICOM, a role which utilized her broad international experience as well as her intimate knowledge of Caribbean Member Countries. In her post as General Counsel of CARICOM, she was required to administer advice to that regional institution and, when called upon, to national governments as well as appear as Counsel before the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Mrs. Krusen has written several publications and is the author of Bringing Justice Home: The Road to Final Regional Appellate Court Establishment. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Commonwealth Law Bulletin.
She is married to Cristóbal Krusen and they have six adult children.
