Career
Archibald was a native of Saint Kitts and Nevis. On July 12, 1960, he was admitted to Bar as a Barrister of the Honourable Society of Lincoln"s Inn in London. Archibald specialized in civil litigation, commercial law, banking law, international arbitration, property law, and insolvency.
He served on the Magistrate"s Court, Appellate Court, as well as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom.
He was elevated to Queen"s Counsel in 1980. Archibald moved from Saint Kitts to the British Virgin Islands to practice law.
He settled on Tortola and founded his law practice, J. South. Archibald and Company He served in several legal positions in the British Virgin Islands, including tenures as Magistrate, Registrar, Director of Public Prosecutions, Crown Attorney (now known as the Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands), High Court Judge and Court of Appeal judge.
In the early 1990s, Archibald was recommended as a potential successor for Sir Lascelles Robotham, who was retiring as Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court at the time.
Archibald also served as a commissioner on the committee which appoints judges to the Caribbean Court of Justice. Archibald was one of the first presidents of the British Virgin Islands Bar Association, a position he held from 1986 until 1994. As president of the OECS Bar Association, Archibald oversaw the ethical standards and rules under which new solicitors and barristers must adhere to in order to practice before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.
Joseph Archibald was reappointed to a second term on the CARICOM Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission in 2010.
In 1987, he served as the 13th World Law Conference"s Chairman of the Constitutional Committee at the convention in Seoul, South of Korea, where he moderated a discussion on "The Bicentennial of the United States Constitution and its effect on the Constitutions of Asia". He also delivered the inaugural Sir Archibald Nedd Memorial Lecture on July 26, 1996, in Grenada.
Archibald was honored by the World Jurist Association, which named him as one of its eighteen outstanding members and added his name to the Rule of Law Monument. The University of the West Indies had awarded the Joseph South. Archibald Queen's Counsel International Prize to final year Bachelor of Laws students since 1990.
In October 2005, the University of the West Indies bestowed him with an honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws.
Doctor Archibald died on April 3, 2014, in McNamara, Road Town, British Virgin Islands. His funeral was held at the Road Town Methodist Church in Road Town on April 26, 2014. Dignitaries in attendance included Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis Denzil Douglas.
Archibald was buried at the Road Town cemetery.
