Confusing law degree and certification to practice law

Jul 05, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
In a letter captioned “Will the ‘Basil Williams Law School’ materialize and be recognized?” the writer, G. Mitchell of the Faculty of Humanities and Education at U.G. stated that the Hugh Wooding School is the only recognized Law School in the Caribbean. This is an inaccurate statement. The Commonwealth Caribbean, by treaty, established the Council of Legal Education more than four decades ago. The Council is the body responsible for the professional training of legal practitioners, and there are THREE law schools, not one. They are the Hugh Wooding in Trinidad that was mentioned, the Norman Manley in Jamaica, and the Eugene Dupuch in The Bahamas.
If Guyana does establish a Law School, it would have to come under the aegis of the Council of Legal Education in order to be recognized regionally. Additionally, there seems to be some confusion in the letter between the academic training at a University, and the professional training at a Law School. The academic training is a prerequisite for the professional training (it was not always so, but today one must complete a law degree before progressing to one of the Law Schools). So to say that graduates of the proposed law school would be like the graduates in Law from the School of Nations University is confusing two different “graduates”.
A University graduate has an academic degree, which is necessary for him/her to practice law, but which is not sufficient for that practice. In order to practice law one must have both the academic degree from a University – UG, UWI, University of London or wherever – AND a professional certificate from (a) Hugh Wooding, (b) Norman Manley, (c) Eugene Dupuch OR (d) one of the British Inns of Court plus a six month (I think) pupillage.
In order for “Law School” to be recognized regionally, it would have to come under the aegis of the Council of Legal Education. The School of Nations University, a private Jamaican university or even London University could, in theory, establish a training School for the legal profession. And Guyana could, if it wanted, accept such training as sufficient for legal practice in Guyana. But it is highly unlikely that graduates from such a school would be admitted to the bar in any other country, unless the school gained accreditation from the Caribbean Council of Legal Education.
Pat Robinson Commission

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