Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo was awarded the Chief Justice Richard W. Holmes Award of Merit, the first recognition for judicial reforms given to a head of judiciary outside of the United States.

The award was bestowed on Chief Justice Gesmundo during the awards luncheon of the 2023 Annual American Judges Association (AJA) Awards in Honolulu, Hawaii last Sept. 12.

Holmes was a justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from 1977 to 1990 and chief justice from 1990 until his retirement in 1995.  He passed away in 1999.

In 1992, then Justice Holmes was given the “Award of Merit” by the AJA, an award renamed in 2000 as “Chief Justice Richard W. Holmes Award of Merit.”

In his message during the awarding ceremony, Chief Justice Gesmundo said: “The yearning for justice knows no borders, and that dream of a society where justice reigns supreme is shared by all of us.”

“It is with humility that I receive this honor, not just for myself and the Supreme Court I represent, but also for my country -- this award, I understand, having been first bestowed on a person from a foreign jurisdiction, in recognition of efforts to institute judicial reforms,” Gesmundo stressed.

He underscored the SC’s Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 (SPJI) as he noted that the plan “could not have been born except through hard work and dedication.”  He expressed high hopes that oen day “the justice that has eluded many, most especially the marginalized, will be at arms’ reach.”

He then shared the award colleagues in the SC, judicial officers, court officials and employees, and members of the Bar. He also expressed his gratitude to the Judiciary’s development partners—international agencies and judicial organizations for their valuable assistance and support.

“While it may have been my singular pride to be at the helm of the Court at this time of great transformation, it is only through our concerted efforts that we can overcome the challenges afflicting the administrative and adjudicative operations of our courts,” he said.

He also noted how he has devoted his remaining years in public service “to the realization of the ideal that justice is for all and, to be meaningful, must be rendered on time., and it is only through this that courts become institutions for peace, order, unity, and equality.”

Gesmundo was one of the speakers during the 2023 AJA’s annual conference in Hawaii. He was joined by Chief Justice Robert Torres of the Supreme Court of Guam in a session on “Tech Talk with the Chiefs” that discussed the challenges that judiciaries face in adopting and implementing new technologies, including issues related to privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity.