Where is the justice?

Sep 14, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,

There is an organisation called the Berbice Bar Association, and there is also one called the Guyana Bar Association.

What is ironic is that the Guyana Bar Association does not include lawyers from Berbice and when the Guyana Bar Association has a function Berbice lawyers are not usually included.

Now, nearly the whole of Guyana is trying to be like the Americans. Some of us try very hard to speak like Americans (this does not apply to all Guyanese) and I would like to believe that lawyers are educated people, so what is baffling is, why is there this inherent division or should I say segregation between the two bar associations?

There is the Upper Canada Law Society, but lawyers all across Canada are part of that larger body, while there are the Ontario Bar Association and bar associations of the various provinces and the same applies to the USA, where the New York Bar includes lawyers from all the boroughs.

My reason for raising this issue is not so much to seek to be part of the Guyana Bar Association, but to look to see where from and how is this “noble” profession policed. Who monitors the activities of lawyers and how discipline is maintained — and now I am speaking particularly of the lawyers in Berbice. Oh, yes some smart lawyer will jump up and say the “Legal Practitioners’ Committee”. This is a committee based in Georgetown, so one may ask if Berbice lawyers are included. Somebody jump up and say ‘yes’.

We will accept that. So let us now look at lawyers in Berbice or more or less the legal profession in Berbice and how is justice dispensed and to whom. I remember asking this very question when the ex mayor of Berbice was granted bail in the sum of $500,000, for two counts of attempted murder and a 19-year-old was placed on $2,000,000 bail for being in illegal possession of ammunition and I was almost chastised by a horde of persons, but the question still needs to be answered. Focus should be drawn to the part that the Berbice Bar Association plays in all of this.

Let me start with missing court documents — documents such as court jackets, depositions for as serious as murder charges and documents involving the sale of real estate – the Berbice Bar – oh – let me clarify the name – it is the defunct Berbice Bar aka the dormant Berbice Bar — has not said a word about any of the above.

Cases are being adjourned and trial does not commence until months later and the prosecution offers the excuse of “we do not have the file back from the DPP”. The Berbice Bar offered and continues to offer a deaf ear and a blind eye to this.

A seasoned lawyer who is the President of the Berbice Bar is before the court on a fraud charge and only recently another very seasoned lawyer has been charged with a very serious offence and the Berbice Bar has said nothing. And do not tell me that there is nothing to say or do.

Magistrates are on leave (because they are entitled to be on leave), but while they are away all we get is “call over” — because (obviously) the remaining magistrates can’t do much more than that. Should there not be arrangements in place to have substitute magistrates? Why am I fussing about this – it has been the practice that the magistrates who are on leave will have to continue with cases that were part heard and even consider bail for remanded persons. So what happens in the mean time? These persons remain in remand.

Now the question – where is the justice. Did the Berbice Bar address this issue? Good guess. It was brought to the attention of the members of the Berbice Bar that two magistrates were to be transferred out of the Berbice Magisterial District and so they were not to start trials that they would not be able to complete. The result – more adjournment. Wohla! The magistrates were not transferred. In fact the date has been extended and that means that now they can’t start cases – more adjournments and is the Berbice Bar doing anything about it? Not in this life.

So where is the justice?

Then let us take a look at the image of this “noble” profession. There is a sitting magistrate who has his law office, manned by a full time staff, and open to the public and it is doing brisk business and more recently another magistrate was suspended for two weeks and I am sure that the Berbice Bar will do nothing about the issues involving our magistrates. Whether for or against the office opening of one and the suspension of another, something should be done.

I will wait for another two weeks before I write on this issue again – the issue of law or the judiciary with respect to Berbice. There is more.

Charrandass Persaud

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