Cherno Jallow

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Cherno Jallow, QC is a former Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands, a position that he held from 1999 to 2007. Mr Jallow stepped down as Attorney General during 2007 to take up a highly paid position within the the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission.

Mr Jallow, a native of the Gambia originally came to the British Virgin Islands as a parliamentary draftsman, but was appointed to act as Attorney General when Dancia Penn stepped down.

Although Mr Jallow's time in office has been a generally benign period of growth for the Territory, he has been subject to criticism from time to time. Crime in the British Virgin Islands has grown considerably on his watch, and he has been dogged by suspicions of cronyism due to his preference for bringing lawyers to the Territory from his native Gambia to work in the Attorney General's chambers in preference to local or regional lawyers. Other critics suggest that he is unwilling to stand up to the Legislative Council in his constitutional role as a check on the Council's powers.