Date of initial appointment to the judicial roster: 28 April 2016
Current term: 1 July 2024 – 30 June 2026
Judge Seymour Panton has been a Judge of the Mechanism since April 2016. In this capacity, he has been involved in a variety of matters as a Single Judge, and as a member of the Appeals Chamber including in the Mladić case and the Fatuma et al. contempt case.
Judge Panton was a member of the Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal from 2008 to 2017. Before joining the Mechanism, he served as a Judge of the Grand Court in the Cayman Islands (2001-2016). Between 1978 and 2016, he held numerous positions within the Jamaican judiciary, including as Judge of the Court of Appeal of Jamaica (1998-2007), culminating in his appointment in 2007 as President of the Court of Appeal of Jamaica.
Earlier in his career, Judge Panton was a Senior Crown Counsel for the government of the Cayman Islands (1977-1978), a legal assistant to the Attorney General of the Cayman Islands (1973-1977), an acting Crown Counsel in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (1971-1973), and a Clerk of the Courts (1964-1966, 1969-1971).
Judge Panton has been conferred a number of awards for his service to the judiciary and the legal profession, including the Order of Jamaica (2007) and the Order of Distinction (Commander) (2006). He was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn, London, England in 1968. Judge Panton serves as Chairman of Jamaica's Integrity Commission, of which he has been a member since 2018. In the past, he served as Chairman of the Integrity Commission of the Turks and Caicos Islands (2018-2021), and was a Council Member of the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association (1982-1988) and a Vice President of the Association of Resident Magistrates of Jamaica (1977-1978). He is fluent in English.