Latest update January 30th, 2025 6:10 AM
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UG rolls out new Undergrad, Postgrad law programmes
The University of Guyana’s Department of Law on Friday launched three new programmes aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
Amongst the new programmes is one aimed at sectors undergirding the legal profession, including human rights organisations, the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force.
The programmes, Master of Laws (LLM) in Legislative Drafting, Graduate Diploma in Legislative Drafting (GDLD) and the Diploma in Legal Education, were officially launched at a ceremony held at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre in Liliendaal.
Throughout the ceremony, the importance of the new courses was highlighted several times by a number of speakers.
In attendance were a number of high-ranking officials including Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Basil Williams and the Surinamese Ambassador to Guyana Mehroen Kurban-Baboe.
Also in attendance were officials from the University along with students from UG’s Law Department.
During his brief remarks, Minister Williams noted that most of Guyana’s legal practitioners were products of the University. He stressed that UG’s Law Department set the foundation for countless careers and therefore the expansion of its services was paramount to Guyana’s continued development.
A section of the audience during Friday’s launch
“The introduction of these new programmes is the end result of the hard work and dedication of a number of people including the administrative staff,” Williams said. He went on, “As a matter of principle, the University should seek to design its programmes to meet the social, economic and cultural needs of the nation and by launching these programmes, we are on this path because legislative drafting is a much needed skill.”
According to Williams, it was only natural that the services being offered by the department evolves with the changing needs of the society. Noting that persons drafting legislature was a small pool, Williams stressed that one of the new programmes, a Master of Laws (LLM) in Legislative Drafting, would assist in correcting this issue. He added that the new programmes are not radical developments from what is already being offered. However, Williams said, they were nonetheless going to be impactful.
Similarly, Deputy Vice Chancellor Barbara Reynolds opined that the introduction of the new programmes represented a shining moment for the university. She said that the new programmes hold great potential for the “onward and upward” development of Guyana. She also expressed great hope for the programmes, including the infusion of culture and a greater respect and appreciation of fundamental human rights.
Expanding upon the importance of ensuring human rights, Reynolds continued, “The rule of law is indispensable and the premise on which we base the rule of law must be recognition of human rights…I hope that our contribution will be significant.”
Furthermore, Reynolds said that while the programmes will foster the correct and ethical practice of law, they will also encourage the study of the law.
“While we prepare practitioners, I hope that we get to the point where we begin to study the rule of the law in our society and make a comparison of what works and what doesn’t work,” Reynolds said.
According to Sheldon McDonald, Head of the UG Law Department, the two new programmes in legislative drafting are reintroductions of courses which were offered some years ago in conjunction with the Commonwealth Secretariat. He said that there was a “well-known” shortage of trained draftspersons, which largely led to the decision to reintroduce legislative drafting to the University.
In regards to the Diploma in Legal Education, McDonald said that this programme was created in response to queries from persons in several sectors. These queries came from bodies such as the Guyana Police Force and the Critchlow Labour College, he said. This programme is expected to be a particularly impactful one since it will target a wide cross section of persons who underpin the private and public legal sectors. The diploma will target persons working in the Disciplined Forces, the wide Public Service, the Public Chambers and various regulatory bodies including the environmental authorities and non-governmental organisations.
The new programmes are expected to be advertised shortly. UG officials emphasised that tuition will be affordable for the level of quality received while the university will also keep in mind its target audience.
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