1962-2007: 45 years of nationhood

Today The Gleaner presents the final in its series looking back at significant milestones that have helped to shape the nation.

2007

Zaila McCalla was sworn-in as the first female Chief Justice of Jamaica on June 26. She succeeded Lensley Wolfe who retired after 11 years in the office. She has been a prosecutor, resident magistrate, Supreme Court judge, and was appointed to the Court of Appeal Bench in 2006.

With her appointment as Chief Justice, she was bestowed with the Order of Jamaica by the Governor-General.

She was born in Lennox Bigwoods in Westmoreland. She received her secondary education at the Montego Bay High School for Girls and subsequently graduated from the Norman Manley Law School of the University of the West Indies.