Lewis Hunte KC Celebrates 60 Years
Lewis S. Hunte, KC, marks six decades since his call to the Bar of England and Wales on 23 November 1965. A former Attorney General of the Virgin Islands, acting High Court judge and influential legislative draftsman, Hunte has shaped key local laws and the broader Caribbean legal landscape while continuing to practise in the Territory.
Hunte, KC, is marking 60 years since his call to the Bar of England and Wales on 23 November 1965, a milestone that reflects a long and influential career across the Caribbean and in the British Virgin Islands. Hunte moved to the Virgin Islands in 1982 to serve as Attorney General.
During his three years in that office he was instrumental in the drafting and passage of major pieces of local legislation, including the Police Act, Interpretation Act, Ports and Marine Services Act, Fire and Rescue Service Act, Beach Protection Act and all accompanying subsidiary legislation.
Those statutes continue to underpin policing, maritime operations, emergency response and coastal management — areas of daily relevance to residents and to the Territory’s tourism and marine sectors. Before his service in the BVI, Hunte held senior legal roles across the region: Deputy Chief Parliamentary Counsel in Barbados and Deputy Registrar of the Court of Appeal in Jamaica.
He is also an accomplished legislative draftsman whose work has included the 1982 Intellectual Property legislation for Barbados and the Model Insurance Legislation for the Caribbean Law Institute. These contributions reflect a long record of shaping laws that support governance, commerce and legal certainty in the region.
Hunte is widely recognised for his pivotal role in drafting the groundbreaking International Business Companies Act of 1984, a statute often credited with transforming the region’s international business frameworks. Chapter XIV of his 2018 autobiography, Memoirs of a Caribbean Lawyer, offers a first‑hand account of the history and drafting of that legislation.
Hunte was a partner at Harney Westwood & Riegels (now Harneys) and is the founder of Hunte & Co., where he continues to serve clients with distinction. He was admitted to the Inner Bar in 2003 and is styled KC, recognising his standing at the Bar. For BVI residents, Hunte’s career is notable not only for its longevity but for its direct impact on local institutions and laws that affect public safety, ports and beaches, and the Territory’s legal framework for commerce.
His work across governments and courts in the Caribbean underscores the regional nature of legal development and the longstanding contribution of Caribbean‑trained lawyers to the rule of law in the Virgin Islands and beyond.
Primary source: Guavaberry