In his last days, former Chief Justice Michael de la Bastide feared his judgement day. This was revealed by Roman Catholic Archbishop of Port of Spain, Reverend Dr Charles Jason Gordon who delivered the homily at the official funeral mass for de la Bastide at The Church of the Assumption yesterday.
Standing before de la Bastide’s coffin which was draped in the national flag, Archbishop Gordon spoke about his final moments with the late jurist to a congregation that included President Christine Kangaloo, Chief Justice Ivor Archie, Finance Minister Colm Imbert, Cabinet members, judges and lawyers.
“At the end of his life, what Michael wanted the most was mercy, mercy, mercy. For a man who has pursued justice relentlessly at every level possible, he understood at the end of his life that if justice was not meted out to him, he was in deep trouble and only mercy would take him from where he was to where his heart wanted him to be, only mercy.”
“And with that understanding of mercy I would daresay at the end of his life, Michael switched careers and moved from a student of justice to a student of mercy. At the end of Michael’s journey mercy was what he wanted, mercy was what he received, mercy was what he yearned most deeply for.”
The archbishop told members of the bereaved family that their support in de la Bastide’s final moments helped him to achieve peace.
“While we come here today to say farewell to our brother and while we have heard all the accolades of his career, the peace that was most dear to him at the end of his life was having his family join together to come as one and having his family be able to experience him in that moment of mercy where he wanted each one to know that he needed you more than anyone else because what he needed from you, only you could have given and that was mercy, forgiveness and love,” he said.
Gordon urged members of the legal profession to chase mercy with the same vigour as they did justice.
Chief Justice Ivor Archie paid respect to a man he described as larger than life, describing de la Bastide as “a fun-loving human being who wielded power with grace, humility and compassion.”
He added: “Of course, I did not know that at the beginning when I entered the profession. I knew him only by reputation . . . the Bull.”
Archie said de la Bastide was given that nickname “not because he was openly difficult or intransigent but it reflected an imposing, indeed irresistible presence when stimulated by principle, deeply held convictions or a challenging legal battle. “
He said the former CJ did not tolerate laziness or deception and pushed himself very hard in pursuit of excellence.
“This judiciary, this legal profession, this country and the region will miss him. He was indeed an eminent jurist, and a distinguished statesman but above all he was a man who enjoyed life, loved and revered family and was totally committed to the country and the Caribbean region that he so ably served,” Archie said.
Condolences were offered on behalf of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) which de la Bastide served as President at its inception. Current President Justice Adrian Saunders said de la Bastide set the standard and foundation for the CCJ.
“As inaugural president of the court, it naturally fell on Michael de la Bastide to establish the norms, rules, and processes, that would shape the operations of both the CCJ and the regional judicial and legal services commission for well into the future. These were not easy roles to fulfil because the CCJ is like no other court or institution in the region because there was no template or precedence to follow,” he explained.
Justice Saunders also spoke about de la Bastide’s advocacy for the CCJ to officially become this country’s final court of appeal. He added that over the last three months, the CCJ has been rocked by the deaths of multiple former judges.
“It is a time of deep mourning for us,” he said.
For his contributions to T&T, de la Bastide was given an official funeral. His coffin was carried by members of the armed forces while the national flag was lowered to half-mast as the nation mourned his passing.
He died on March 30 at age 86.