Latest update September 15th, 2026 10:20 AM
Gov’t looking to establish public/private local law school- AG
-Guyana ready to sign collaborative agreement with CLE
With the current fee hike implemented at the Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) of Trinidad and Tobago, the Government is engaged in discussions about establishing a local law school, on a public/private partnership model.
Attorney General
Basil Williams
This disclosure was made by Attorney General Basil Williams during a recent press conference. According to Williams, while Government is carrying out engagements on this matter, it was still in its early stages.
Williams stated that enquiries had been made from the Council of Legal Education (CLE) on whether such an institution would still be under the purview of the Council. He revealed that a response has not been forthcoming as yet.
The Attorney General stated that since being written to, the Council had stated that it would respond to him. That, however, has not occurred. He pointed out that the University of Guyana had a vested interest in seeing the issue resolved.
“When the last Council met in January, that matter was referred to the sub-committee. I don’t know, from where I sit, whether the subcommittee has come up with any position on the matter and that is why I wrote the Chairperson of the CLE.”
“So we are hoping that we get some response, because the University of Guyana is well, willing and able to sign the collaborative agreement. As you know, we would like our students to be assured a place at the Hugh Wooding Law School for the next school year.”
He also spoke about the arrangement which saw Guyana sending 25 students to the law school. Williams observed that the situation was inherited but is currently being addressed.
“All we seem to have done is inherit myriad problems, sheer problems from the previous administration. And we are not going to allow them to blame us for those problems; we are going to work them out. As you know, I had to get CARICOM Heads of Government to intervene, in my first year, to get the students in.”
The Hugh Wooding Law School
“In the second year I had to intervene again to get them to pay half the fees that were increased tremendously. Pay half upfront and then half before they graduate…so we need to have these things settled. We are engaged on the question of establishing a public/private partnership law school in Guyana. We’re still in the early stages of that.”
Williams had come in for some criticism after stating last year that establishing a law school locally was not a priority, bearing in mind the economic costs that would be attached to the project.
The CLE is the authoritative body for legal training in the Commonwealth Caribbean. It had threatened, since 2009, to stop automatic yearly admissions for University of Guyana Law graduates to the HWLS.
The CLE has been calling for the administration to pay an economic cost for Guyanese students attending the law school.
According to HWLS documents last year, Guyanese students were required to pay just over TT$91,000, per year. This equates to approximately G$2.9M.
Other students from Dominica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines were also required to pay this fee. Accommodation and living expenses were excluded from the total.
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