Rohan S. Walters-Scott, a Vincentian lawyer, has made remarkable strides in the legal profession overseas.
Walters-Scott, is the son of Jeannette Walters and Byron Scott, was born in Lowmans Windward and raised in Barrouallie.
He attended Barrouallie Secondary School and migrated to St. Kitts and Nevis in November 1994, paving the way for an illustrious career.
Walters-Scott’s professional journey began in finance, where he excelled as an insurance advisor (winning many global, regional and local awards), banker, and automated clearing house payment systems (ECACH) supervisor at the Caribbean Credit Card Corporation.
There, he contributed to delivering the first automated clearing house facility in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) on behalf of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB).
Transitioning into law, Walters-Scott has held pivotal roles, including legal researcher at the Law Commission— an arm of the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs in St. Kitts and Nevis.
In this capacity, he has advised the government on critical legal matters such as taxation, citizenship, constitutional issues, contracts, international trade, treaties, and civil claims against the state.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Walters-Scott served as Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs for the national COVID-19 Task Force.
Walters-Scott ‘s dedication to public service extends to his role as Legal Advisor to the Probation and Child Welfare Board and as a member of the steering committee for professionalising the teaching force in St. Kitts-Nevis.
His contributions have garnered international recognition; he was honored by the World Bank as a country expert for his work on the “Women, Business, and the Law” annual publication.
A law revisioner and legislative draftsman, Walters-Scott has spearheaded groundbreaking projects, including overseeing the revision of the 2017 Revised Edition Laws of St. Christopher and Nevis Ordinances — a decade-long undertaking.
He also led the initiative to launch the state’s first online laws portal, making legal information more accessible. His achievements in law revision continued with the completion of revisions for 2020 and 2022, in conjunction with the Regional Law Revision Center in Anguilla.
Walters-Scott earned his LLB from the University of Wolverhampton UK in 2004 and holds advanced degrees in project management and legislative drafting. Recently, he achieved his Postgraduate Degree in professional legal studies from the University of Law in the UK.
He has also lectured in business and hospitality law at the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College for over a decade, achieving an 85% pass rate amongst his students.
Among his innovative contributions, Walters-Scott also made significant contributions in the development of “VOICEIT”, the federation’s and OECS’ first AI generative tool designed for legal research, enhancing accessibility on the laws online portal.
He also provides specialised lectures on legal requirements for small enterprises under the Women’s Employment, Entrepreneurship, and Financial Inclusion project sponsored by the Taiwan government.
Walters-Scott attributes his achievements to his strong faith in God, the support of his wife and children, siblings, and friends and expresses many to them all in their unwavering support and encouragement.
Congratulations to this Bagga Scholar. Great achievements.
What is this? A propaganda piece for Walters-Scott? Mister Editor you must be well paid, for sure.
This is a classic example of the “brain drain” we are encountering in our multi-island state of Saint Vincent and The Grenadines.
I may never know what transpired in propelling this individual to the proverbial “greener pastures”, however, I would like to express that a luminary of his calibre should have been empowered to return to our island to assist with the long term development of our nation. Instead, he has been utilizing his excellent educational background and wealth of knowledge to propel the advancement of other countries, perhaps because of better opportunities. Without a doubt, Rohan Walters-Scott could most certainly have made an overwhelmingly positive contribution to various facets of our nation.
I challenge the relevant Unit(s) to conduct an exercise to determine how many thousands of highly educated Vincentians are out there making significant contributions in the diaspora.
One may argue that our development would be restricted by virtue of our size on the world’s platform, however when we compare SVG with our 150 square miles of land space to the Mediterranean Island of Malta with their 122 square miles, for example, we would agree that size is not always the most important factor in the equation because the Maltese economy boasted a whopping GDP per capita of US$40,395 for a country that is 28 square miles smaller than ours, compared to our US$10,520 GDP per capita for the corresponding period at the end of December 2023.
According to the IMF World Economic Outlook April 2024, SVG ranks #97 out of 190 among the World’s Poorest Countries and, while we are thankful that we are not closer to the top of that infamous list, we certainly would do well with the contribution of our highly educated sons and daughters of the soil to assist in aiding the development of our country.
Congratulations to Mr. Rohan Walters-Scott. Your achievement has certainly made us proud.