Ms. Hasine Shaikh assumed the role of Trinidad and Tobago’s first Chief Public Defender in March 2020. As Department Head, she has been an integral part of the reformation of the role of Defence Counsel in the Criminal Justice System. With the proclamation of the Administration of Justice Indictable Proceedings Act, the Department also now manages all of the legally aided committal proceedings before the High Court.
Prior to being Chief Public Defender, Ms. Shaikh was a member of the private Criminal Bar as Defence Counsel since being called to the Bar of Trinidad and Tobago in 2008. A former national scholarship winner, she graduated from the University of the West Indies and Hugh Wooding Law School. She also went on to complete her Master of Laws in Criminology and Criminal Justice in 2016 from the University of London. She has practiced at the Magisterial, High Court and Appellate Courts of Trinidad and Tobago.
Ms. Shaikh has always been an active participant in the continued development of the Criminal Justice system and contributes as a serving member on a number of committees geared to this. She is also a strong advocate for the moulding of young minds in the profession and to this end, was a past tutor for the University of the West Indies, Law Faculty for Criminal Law and currently tutors in the Hugh Wooding Law School, for Criminal Practice and Procedure.
