Guyanese Dr Arif Bulkan to be appointed as Judge at CCJ

The Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC) has appointed Justice Arif Bulkan of Guyana as a Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). His appointment follows the elevation of Justice Winston Anderson to the presidency of the Court on July 4, 2025.

Justice Bulkan who is expected to be sworn in by October 2025, becomes the third Guyanese national to sit on the CCJ bench.
A graduate of the University of the West Indies (UWI) with a Bachelor of Laws, Justice Bulkan also holds a Legal Education Certificate from the Hugh Wooding Law School, a Master of Laws from University College London, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Law from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Canada.
His career spans litigation, academia, authorship and international legal work. He was admitted to the Guyana Bar in 1990 and served in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions until 1996, reaching the post of Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions. He later entered private practice until 2004. Justice Bulkan also sat on the Court of Appeal of Guyana in 2018 and has been serving as a Judge of the Court of Appeal of Belize since May 2022.
From 2008 to 2022, he was a lecturer at the UWI Faculty of Law. His international work includes serving as a member of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee, where he was Vice Chairperson from 2019 to 2022, and his current role as a commissioner and Second Vice-President (VP) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, to which he was elected in June 2023.
Justice Bulkan is also a published scholar on indigenous rights, human rights and constitutional law. His works include The Survival of Indigenous Rights in Guyana (2012) and Fundamentals of Caribbean Constitutional Law, co-authored in 2015 with a second edition released in 2021. His contributions earned him the Anthony Sabga Caribbean Award for Public and Civic Contributions in 2017, as well as recognition as a PANCAP/CARICOM Champion for Change that same year.
In announcing the appointment, CCJ President and RJLSC Chairman Justice Winston Anderson said the process was based solely on merit, citing expertise, integrity and dedication to justice as key considerations. He disclosed that 26 applications were received from across the Caribbean and internationally, with five candidates shortlisted before Justice Bulkan was selected.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall, SC offered congratulations to the Justice Bulkan on behalf of Guyana.
“Warmest congratulations are hereby extended to Dr Arif Bulkan, on behalf of the Government of Guyana on his selection for appointment as a Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice,” the AG in his message stated.