Seychelles Chief Justice and the First Coup d’état.
Sir Justin Louis Devaux was born in 1884, on the Island of Saint Lucia, the son of J Devaux. He was educated at Saint Mary’s all-male Catholic Secondary School at Vigie, which was founded in 1890 by Father Louis Tapon of France. That school had produced a few Nobel laureates, including the economist Sir William Arthur Lewis, who became the first black person in a category other than peace; and Derek Alton Walcot OBE, OCC, for literature.
The famous Saint Lucian jurist and politician, the Right Honourable Sir Vincent Floissac, was also at Saint Mary’s School. He later served as member of the Seychelles Court of Appeal from 1988-1991.
Sir Vincent Floissac QC, OBE, CMG, PC., 1929-2010
After his studies in his homeland, Devaux went to England to pursue law studies, and in 1906 he was called to the Bar at the Lincoln’s Inn. After his qualification he went to Canada and practiced law from 1906-1915. There he established, with Mr R Noble, the firm of Noble and Devaux, situated at 416 Main Street, in the McIntyre Block, Winnipeg. While there, he married Eunice Bertrand of Winnipeg and between them had three daughters.
At the end of 1915 he left Canada for his motherland, and joined the Colonial Civil Service; there he worked for four years as a magistrate. In 1919 he went to the Seychelles as an assistant legal adviser; a year later he became legal adviser, and in 1924 he was promoted to Chief Justice. Devaux was a short round man, and as soon as he arrived he was known as, Ti ton ton (a small uncle), and Tiboulon (a small bolt) when wearing his huge colonial hat.
In 1924 when the Chief Justice, Sir Philip Bertie Petrides left the Seychelles to take up his new appointment as Attorney General in the Nyasaland Protectorate, Devaux was promoted to Chief Justice. He became acting Governor from the 10th of March to the 10th of October 1925, whilst the then Governor, Sir Joseph Byrne, went on leave to England. Byrne finally left on the 6th of April 1927 to take his new appointment as Governor of Sierra Leone, and Devaux became acting governor until the arrival of the new governor, Sir Malcolm Stevenson, who arrived on the 13th of November 1927. Stevenson was a brilliant and distinguished Colonial administrator. However, he arrived in the Seychelles as a sick man and two days after his arrival he was confined to his bed but tried to carry on with his duties, but alas, his health finally broke down. He was weakened, and on the 23rd of November 1927 he handed over his power to Devaux. Four days later Stevenson died. When Stevenson had disembarked at Petit Port, (formerly Hodoul’s Jetty), now the Yacht Club, and as was previously stated, landing in the Seychelles on the (unlucky) 13th which was a recognised phobia in the Seychelles, a turtle dove came and landed on his left shoulder. This happening was prophesied as a very bad omen for him, and it turned out to be so very true for him.
Not long after he became acting governor, Devaux received instruction from the Colonial Office about his new appointment in Jamaica. And on about the same time the Colonial Office had appointed Robert Stephen Vere de Vere as the new Chief Justice of the Seychelles while was still in Cyprus as District Judge. He was a friend of Stevenson and was previously a Crown Prosecutor in the Seychelles. Vere de Vere arrived on the 7th of February 1928 and was surprised to find that Devaux was still acting governor and had refused to relinquish his post. Vere de Vere reminded Devaux’s attention of the fact that he was appointed as Chief Justice and demanded to be sworn in as acting governor, but Devaux still refused to acknowledge Vere de Vere’s demand.
Captain T Thomas, the clerk to the Governor, on his own accord summoned the Executive Council, and the Council decided to swear in Vere de Vere as Chief Justice for the immediate takeover of the post of acting governor. Devaux objected to the convening of the Executive Council and held that he was still the administrator of the Seychelles. However, he left the Government House with three important things: The Great Seal of the Colony, the private code, and Gustave de Comarmond his typist; and he promptly moved himself to a private accommodation. Vere de Vere proceeded in his achievements and had his proclamation printed. However, he was unable to affix the seal of the Seychelles to it and therefore, failed to have it legalised. Vere de Vere decided to cable the Secretary of State in an open telegram requesting for instructions. The Secretary of State replied to both Vere de Vere and Devaux in coded messages. Devaux was able to read his and whilst Vere de Vere was unable to read his message because Devaux had refused to let him have the Code that would have enabled Vere de Vere to decipher his code.
That coup d’état was described by the Colonial Office as “ridiculous”, and lasted for some days. Later on Vere de Vere left the Government House and Devaux moved in as acting governor. On the 11th of February 1928, he summoned the Executive Council to explain that Vere de Vere’s claim to be acting governor was null and void and had no legal effect. He also read to them extracts of many telegrams from the Secretary of State. The next day Vere de Vere gave in and Devaux convened another meeting in which Vere de Vere was sworn in as acting Chief Justice. Devaux continued to act as acting governor until his departure on the 22nd of March 1928. At last Vere de Vere was sworn in as acting governor by Samuel Blunt de Burg Edwards, (a friend of Baden- Powell), the acting Chief Justice.
While in the Seychelles, Devaux managed on two occasions to save his best friend Louis Edward Lanier from justice. The first case was in 1923 when Lanier who was 50 years old and had been accused of raping (known at that time as attentat à la pudeur) a girl of 12 years and 10 months. Devaux instigated the immediate amendment of the age of consent to be 12 years. This was done by printing the necessary change in the law before midnight on the day of the crime. He also presided on the defamation case against Lanier, in which he allowed his prejudice to affect his judgment, which found Lanier not guilty. That case was severely criticised in England and the authorities wanted to move Devaux to a new post outside the Seychelles.
In 1928 he returned to the West Indies as a resident magistrate in Jamaica until 1931. Afterwards, he was posted to Trinidad as Solicitor General and from 1935 as Attorney-General. He arrived in Mauritius on the 1st of April 1940, and three days later was sworn in as Chief Justice. In Mauritius he resided in Floréal. He went on leave with his family to South Africa in 1941, where he was stranded for many months because of the World War. In 1942 he returned alone, and at the end of that year he was not well after suffering a stroke and it was thought that he would retire. He again took up his duties as Chief Justice ,however, he had to be assisted to perform his duties. On the 1st of January 1943 Devaux was Knighted KB, (Knight Bachelor). In the same month he had a second stroke and later died suddenly in his domicile opposite Candos Hospital, at Port Louis on the 2nd of February 1943.
In 1924 J. Louis Devaux, whilst the Chief Justice of the Seychelles, published a revised version of the Seychelles Penal Code. It was a reprint of the Seychelles Penal Code of 1904 which was modified in 1920 and then in 1923. In 1916 Devaux also wrote The Revised Rules and Orders of Saint Lucia, and later on, with the assistance of Elliot Francis Maingot O B E, the Crown Solicitor of Trinidad, they published the Revised Ordinances of Trinidad and Tobago.
Ref.
- Canada Legal Directory.
- Dictionary of Mauritius Biography: pp. 575-576
- John Calais: F/2.14 Item III pp. 41-42 Seychelles National Archives.
- Julien Durup: Seychelles Jurisprudence and Imposition of Law 1770-1990’s (Unpublished)
- Seychelles Government Gazette: 1919-1928
- Supplement to the London Gazette 1st January 1943. Seychelles National Archives.
- William McAteer: To Be A Nation; 2008