Margaret Rose, Managing Partner

margaret

Margaret Rose, LLB (Hons) UWI, L.E.C., LLM Corporate Commercial Law,  is an attorney at law, called to the bar of Trinidad and Tobago in 1995.  Ms. Rose is currently completing  doctoral research at the Institute of Policy Research, University of Bath, United Kingdom. Qualified to practice throughout the Commonwealth Caribbean and with extensive litigation and jury trial experience, Ms. Rose is Managing Partner and Head of the Public Procurement Practice at Rose Law Caribbean. The firm’s particular areas of practice include criminal, anti-corruption and white collar crime, corporate and public governance and procurement law, construction and community law. During the period 1994 – 1998, while practicing Ms. Rose also lectured in the areas of Equity and Trust Law, Company Law and Contract Law in the London (External) LLB Programme. Between 1995 and 2002 Ms. Rose practiced principally in the areas of criminal and public law and appeared at both the High Court and the Appellate Court.

From 1995 – 2011 Ms. Rose  appeared in several capital matters in the Criminal Assizes and holds an almost unblemished record of acquittals save one which conviction was subsequently set aside by the Privy Council and a manslaughter verdict reinstated.  Also during the course of her practice in Trinidad and Tobago, Ms. Rose appeared in the first confiscation proceedings, first paper committal proceedings, first prosecution under the Computer Misuse Act 2002, the first judicial review proceedings where a decision to interdict a public servant’s salary was quashed and the first successful case of misfeasance in public office by a public official.

Since 2002, Ms. Rose has served on multiple procurement fraud enquiries, both as counsel to the Commission and representing senior public sector officials and currently advises public and private sector entities in the area of public contracting risk, procurement fraud and corruption.

In December 2006 Ms. Rose co-founded the Caribbean Procurement Institute (CPI) and served as Executive Director up until April 2017.  In this capacity, Ms. Rose spearheaded the development of the premier Caribbean Public Procurement Conference (CPPC) Forum, the Procurement Intensive Seminar Series™ which is a series of two day intensive training programmes designed to give the participant an in-depth and comprehensive coverage of the legal and practical complexities arising in specialised areas in the field of procurement,  The Procurement Law Toolkit Series™ and the five (5) day Osgoode Certificate in Public Procurement Law (Commonwealth Caribbean Edition). Ms. Rose served as adjunct faculty at the Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto Canada in its annual Public Procurement Law Certificate Programme between 2010 – 2013. In 2008, the CPI sponsored the establishment of its sister non-profit organisation the Caribbean Association of Procurement Professionals (CAPP) which is dedicated to serving the professional development, certification and capacity building of procurement professionals. From inception to date, CPI has trained over 2500 regional professionals engaged in the function of procurement.

Since 2008 Ms. Rose representing CPI has lectured and presented at conferences extensively across the globe in the area of public procurement, governance and anti-corruption in Tunisia, Germany, Nigeria, Canada, Holland, Sweden, the Philippines and throughout the English Speaking Caribbean. In 2016, CPI was acquired by the Procurement Innovation & Leadership Lab (PILL) and Ms. Rose continues as Managing Consultant. 

Ms. Rose is the founder of the NGO  Disclosure Today with head offices in the UK and local offices in Trinidad and Tobago and Portugal served as Chairman between 2015 and 2017.  Disclosure Today was an award-winning social governance project promoting responsible and effective citizen engagement in public decision-making. 

Between  2017-2022, Ms. Rose took a sabbatical to pursue doctoral studies in the UK and during this time established two further social entrepreneurship initiatives U-Solve and Future Law Institute, in which she continues to work.

Ms. Rose has served on several state and private sector boards and has chaired Procurement Advisory Committees and Tenders Committees. Ms. Rose is former Vice Chairman of the local Chapter of Transparency International, the Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI) and a former executive member of the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago and the Criminal Bar Association of Trinidad and Tobago. Ms. Rose currently serves on the Board of the Caribbean Institute of Forensic Accounting (CIFA), the Advisory Board of the International Public Procurement Conference (IPPC) body, the Anti Corruption Committee of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), the Advisory Board of the International Development Institute for Leadership, Management and Technology (IDILMAT) headquartered in Ghana.

Notable Work
  • State v Nanikissoon Boodram also known as “Dole Chadee” – First Confiscation Proceedings, Trinidad and Tobago (Junior Counsel representing State)
  • State v Darren Thomas – Murder – Indictment Quashed (Advocate, representing the Accused)
  • State v Jason Ellis John – Murder – Acquittal (Advocate, representing the Accused)
  • State v Daniel Gopaul et ors – Thackoor Boodram Murder Appeal – Refused (Advocate, Representing Appellant)
  • Raphael Mitchell v Board of Inland Revenue – Judicial Review – Order of Certiori – Decision to interdict public servant’s salary quashed (Advocate, Representing Applicant)
  • Chandresh Sharma v Dr. Keith Christopher Rowley – Privileges Committee, Charges Unsubstantiated (Adviser, Representing Respondent)
  • Chandresh Sharma v Dr. Keith Christopher Rowley – Magistrates Court – Charges Dismissed (Advocate, Representing Defendant)
  • Dr. Keith Christopher Rowley v Integrity Commission CV 2007 – 00185  – Judicial Review – Decision quashed; First Case in the Caribbean where Damages awarded for Tort of Misfeasance in Public Office (Junior Counsel & Instructing Firm, Representing Claimant)
  • Commission of Enquiry into the Piarco Airport Development Project 2002 -2003 (Counsel to the Commission of Enquiry)
  • Public Panel Forum on Green Paper on Public Procurement Reform in Trinidad and Tobago 2004 (Public Panel Contributor – Pro Bono)
  • Commission of Enquiry into the Scarborough Hospital Project (Landate Enquiry) 2005 (Counsel to the Minister of Trade & Investment, Member of Parliament Diego Martin West & other witnesses)
  • Commission of Enquiry into contracts awarded to NH International (Caribbean) Ltd, Warner Construction & Sanitation Ltd and/or Warner Construction Ltd by the Ministry of Planning & Development & Ministry of Housing during the period 2002 – 2005 (Counsel to former Minister of Housing & Minister of Planning & Development)
  • Cabinet Appointed Office of the Legal Expert providing advice to the Ministry of National Security on the implementation of Tri-partite Police Service Reform 2006 (Team Member)
  • Commission of Enquiry into Construction Sector Trinidad and Tobago and UDeCOTT  2008 – 2009 (Counsel to Member of Parliament Diego Martin West)
  • Commission of Enquiry into Construction Sector Trinidad and Tobago (Extended Terms of Reference Cleaver Heights Project) 2009 (Counsel to Member of Parliament Diego Martin West)
  • IDB funded Government of Barbados, Modernization of Public Procurement – Consultants Draft Bill Public Procurement 2011 (Sub Consultant – Crown Agents)
  • Commission of Enquiry into CL Financial and the Hindu Credit Union (HCU) 2013 (Counsel Representing Witness)
  • UNODC Guidebook on Anti-Corruption in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2013 Contributor
Publications
  1. Public Procurement Policy Considerations : Trade, Governance & Development Chapter 8 Public Policy & Administration in the Caribbean (2015 Taylor & Francis)
  2. The Disclosure Toolkit : Step by Step Guide for Managing Disclosure Obligations in Public Procurement (2014 Caribbean Procurement Institute)

Ms. Rose is dedicated to the development of procurement law as a distinct academic and professional discipline in the Caribbean, to regional anti-corruption efforts and socio-economic development.