(Seychelles News Agency) - Two new non-resident judges of the Court of Appeal of Seychelles were sworn in on Wednesday morning at State House in the presence of the Vice-President of Seychelles, Ahmed Afif. 

The two judges both come from neighbouring nations, with Judge Karuna Gunesh-Balaghee being from Mauritius, and Janak De Silva from Sri Lanka. 

“I am very happy to be here, and I see this as an opportunity to work with different judicial officers from different countries, and get a different experience outside my country,” said Judge De Silva, after having sworn in. 

De Silva is a justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, where he has also held positions as justice for the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka. 

Judge Gunesh-Balaghee said that she has “accepted the nomination with a lot of humility. This is a big responsibility for me, and I want to thank the CAA [Constitutional Appointments Authority] for the confidence … in my abilities.” 

She added that she hopes to perform to a good standard and work closely with her colleagues. 

Karuna Gunesh-Balaghee has extensive experience, having worked in criminal cases from 1995 to 2006, been a legal advisor to the Mauritius Revenue Authority and also been a parliamentary counsel at the Attorney General’s Office in Mauritius. 

The two justices have been sworn in for a five-year term and they will sit on cases when any of the resident justices of appeal are not available such as medical or family issues or if asked to recuse themselves from a case.

The non-resident justices will only be paid when they fill in for a resident justice of appeal as per an amendment made last year following a recommendation by the President of the Court of Appeal, Anthony Fernando, to help with budgetary constraints.

The two justices will be based in their resident countries. 

The Court of Appeal of Seychelles is made up of five Justices of Appeal including the President of the Court of Appeal and the Chief Justice.  

The Court of Appeal sits for three terms each year. These are during the vacation of the Supreme Court and are generally April, August and December.

Amended: 30/11/23 8.55 a.m.