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Belize Supreme Court Judge has eyes on pioneering law school in Guyana
Although a resolution seems to be on the horizon regarding the placement of Guyanese law students at the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad, a renowned legal mind is convinced that the answer to ensuring that Guyana is not caught up in such a situation again is the establishment of a local law school.
Justice Courtney Abel
“I think we should set up our own law school and I seriously think that it needs to be done,” said Justice Courtney Ashton Abel, during a recent interview with this publication. Justice Abel, a Guyanese by birth, has functioned in a number of legal capacities and is well known throughout the Caribbean.
He currently sits as a Judge in the Supreme Court of Belize, dealing exclusively with Civil and Commercial claims in the High Court.
Among the titles held by this outstanding son of the soil is Barrister, Commissioner for Oaths, Notary Public, Additional Magistrate, and substantive President of the Organisation of Commonwealth Caribbean Bar Associations (OCCBA) which is a representative Bar Association of all of the CARICOM countries. He was also a Past President of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean Bar Association (OECS), twice a Past President of Anguilla Bar Association and twice the Past President of the Rotary Club of Anguilla.
With his wealth of legal experience, Justice Abel said that he had some time ago envisaged spearheading the establishment of a local law school.
“I was planning to work on it myself, not to do it necessarily as part of the system that exists, but kind of an independent franchise.”
Justice Abel recalled that some years ago he had even managed to persuade a number of “movers and shakers” to entertain the idea of a local law school. He reflected that after assuming the position of judge, “I got tied up and wasn’t able to follow through on that.”
But given the recent development, Justice Abel speculated that the time just might be right for the realisation of such a project.
“I would love to be involved in that development; I love reform and I love pioneering things, so I would leave the judicial thing tomorrow just to get this done,” he confided.
According to him, while there are a number of Caribbean territories in which a law school could be constructed, he is sure that Guyana would be the ideal location.
“It would be fantastic for Guyana, because you really want to create a world class system that would attract people from all over the world. That is what would be ideal and we have got the space…and the cost of living is not as high as some other places in the Caribbean.”
In reiterating his conviction, Justice Abel insisted that “to me that is the solution, and if that is what’s happening (the situation with the Council of Legal Education) then that is the way that we should be going, and I would love to be involved, and I would jump at it.”
As part of an agreement between the University of the West Indies’ Council for Legal Education and the University of Guyana, 25 graduates of UG’s law programme were guaranteed automatic placements at the Hugh Wooding Law School. However, the Council had decided to take the decision to reverse this agreement, thereby resulting in graduates of the local law programme being left in a state of uncertainty with regards to furthering their legal education.
The matter was one gaining the keen attention of the Caribbean Community with Chairman, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, writing to the Council of Legal Education urging that the 25 Guyanese students be granted placement at the Hugh Wooding Law School. According to recent deliberations by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, Dr Gonsalves’ request is, from all indications, gaining favourable attention.
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