Retired Court of Appeal Judge, Justice Nandram Kissoon passed away on Saturday evening at the age of 81 years.
Guyana Times was told that Justice Kissoon had recently undergone a surgery overseas, which was successful, however, he succumbed while recovering from the operation.
Justice Kissoon was born in 1942 at Plantation Clonbrook on the East Coast of Demerara and grew up at Bee Hive, where he continued to reside up until his passing. He was one of 12 children.
He attended the Anns Grove RC School and completed his General Certificate of Education (GCE) at the Indian Education Trust (now Richard Ishmael Secondary School). Upon completing school, Kissoon worked as a teacher at the Mahaica and Clonbrook schools.
Justice (Retired) Nandram Kissoon
In 1965, he left Guyana to study law at the Inner Temple in London, England. He then commenced what would be an illustrious career in the legal fraternity with his return to Guyana in 1969. Kissoon started off working at the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Chambers and a couple of years later, he moved over to the Attorney General (AG) Chambers.
He subsequently left the public service to practice privately both in the criminal and civil courts. Kissoon returned to the public service when he was appointed a Puisne Judge in 1987 and later moved up to the Court of Appeal, where he served until his retirement.
At the time of his death, the retired Judge was serving on the Guyana Public Service Appellate Tribunal. He was appointed Chairman of the PSAT back in 2017 under the previous Administration and was reappointed in November 2020 by President Dr Irfaan Ali.
Outside of his professional career, Kissoon has been described as a “phenomenal humanitarian.”
His contributions include scholarships to students to pursue their academic goals as well as donations to rebuild Hindu temples across the country. He was also very fond of farming, growing his own crops and having livestock.
Justice Kissoon was married with one child. However, his has played a fatherly role to his siblings and nieces and nephews – many of whom are also of the legal fraternity including State Solicitor at the AG Chambers, Prithima Kissoon; High Court Judge, Justice Sandil Kissoon, and renowned Attorney-at-Law, Devindra Kissoon.
Justice Sandil Kissoon described his uncle as a fatherly figure who was always there for every family member.
“He was there at every juncture, at every hour of the day whether called upon or not. He volunteered his assistance in every form and the word ‘no’ does not exist in his vocabulary. [He had] tremendous patience, resilience and courage… He was simply old-school,” Justice Sandil Kissoon related to Guyana Timeson Sunday. (G8)
