Chief Sec­re­tary Far­ley Au­gus­tine says he was sur­prised to learn of Chief Jus­tice Ivor Archie’s an­nounce­ment that he will re­tire next year.

Speak­ing yes­ter­day at the open­ing of the Friend­ship Con­nec­tor Road project, Au­gus­tine said he had shared a plat­form with the Chief Jus­tice ear­li­er this year and saw no sign he in­tend­ed to step down.

“You re­mem­ber that ear­li­er this year, the Chief Jus­tice and I shared a stage at our Al­ma Mater, Bish­op’s High School. That was, I think, the Sat­ur­day be­fore Fa­ther’s Day, when we dis­cussed life and times at the school and what it meant to us. And some­where, while hav­ing con­ver­sa­tion post that event, I did ask him, you know, what are his plans. I didn’t get any in­di­ca­tion then that he had planned to re­tire ear­ly,” Au­gus­tine said.

He de­scribed Archie as an out­stand­ing fig­ure in the na­tion’s ju­di­cia­ry.