MRS. LYNETTE SEEBARAN SUITE (Attorney at Law)
Doctor of Laws (LLD)
Lynette Seebaran Suite was called to the Bar in 1977, after studies at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, and the Hugh Wooding Law School. She first worked as a Legal Research Officer at the Law Reform Commission. Thereafter, she chose a practice in family law, identifying four burning issues crying out for reform: the law of sexual offences, the twin scourges of domestic violence and sexual harassment in the workplace, and abortion law reform. She was a leading advocate for the passage of the Sexual Offences Act 1986, as well as, legislation creating the remedy for domestic violence, passed in 1991, and the establishment of a Gender Based Violence Unit within the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. Under her leadership, the non-governmental organization ASPIRE advocated for abortion on request in the first trimester of pregnancy and thereafter on health grounds. In 2012, she received a national award – the National Medal for Women in Development, Gold, in the field of Law. Between 2014 and 2020, she served as head of the Equal Opportunity Commission.