The Chief Justice of the Bahamas heads the Supreme Court of the Bahamas.
The position of Chief Justice is authorised by Article 93(2) of the Constitution of the Bahamas. Under Article 94(1), the Governor-General appoints the Chief Justice on the recommendation of the Prime Minister after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. Removal of the Chief Justice is governed by Article 96(6); the Prime Minister recommends removal to the Governor-General, who then forms a tribunal of at least three members selected by the Governor-General in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister. Under Article 98(2), the Chief Justice may be invited to sit on the Court of Appeal by the President of that Court.
British Crown Colony of the Bahamas, 1718Thomas Walker, 1718- (died 1723)Sir William Morison, c.1770Stephen de Lancey c.1790–1797Moses Franks 1799– (died 1810)William Vesey Munnings <1811–1836Sir John Campbell Lees 1836–1865 Sir William Henry Doyle 1865–Sir George Campbell Anderson 1875– Henry William Austen, 1880-1890 (Sir) Charles George Walpole, 1893–1897 Sir Ormond Drimmie Malcolm 1897–1910 Sir John Bromhead Matthews 1910–1911 Sir Sidney Charles Nettleton 1922–1924 (afterwards Chief Justice of Cyprus, 1924)Sir Ewen Reginald Logan 1925–1927Sir Kenneth James Beatty 1927–Sir Richard Clifford Tute, K.C.M.G, 1932-1939Oscar Bedford Daly, 1939- Guy Wilmot McLintock Henderson?–1960Sir Ralph Abercrombie Campbell, 10 August 1960 to 31 May 1970William Gordon Bryce, C.B.E., Q.C., 1 June 1970 to 30 June 1973Bahamas becomes independent, 1973Sir Leonard J. Knowles, 4 July 1973 to 6 August 1978James Alfred Smith, 7 July 1978 to 11 May 1980Harvey Lloyd da Costa, 18 November 1980 to 31 December 1981Vivian O. Blake, 1 January 1982 to 9 September 1983Sir Denis Eustace Gilbert Malone (acting), 10 September to 31 December 1983Rt. Hon. Mr. Philip Telford Georges, 1 January 1984 to 30 September 1989Sir Joaquim Gonsalves Sabola, 1 October 1989 to 31 December 1995Sir Cyril S. S. Fountain, 1 January 1995 to 30 October 1996Dame Joan A. Sawyer, DBE, 1 November 1996 to 26 November 2001Sir Burton P. C. Hall, KSS, KHS, 2001 to 2009Hon. Sir Michael L. Barnett, 24 August 2009 to 31 January 2015 Hon. Sir Hartman Longley, 2 February 2015 to present 