Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos dies at 80

Mar 09, 2019 News

Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos died last evening at a city hospital after he was taken to the institution having complained of feeling unwell. He was 80.
A legal luminary, Mr. De Santos served for five years as Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs in the Dr. Cheddi Jagan-led PPP government.
After becoming AG, he held several appointments which included Member of the Constitutional Reform Commission, Member of the Sub Committee on Governance, Member of the United Nations Permanent Court of Council, and Member of the Sectoral Committees on Constitutional Reform and Foreign Relations.
After resigning as AG, De Santos returned to private practice.
Born on April 27, 1938, to parents Bernard Celestino De Santos Sr. and Hilda Beatrice De Santos, the legal standout spent his first 50 years in the village of Plaisance on the East Co

Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos

ast of Demerara.
De Santos began his primary education at the St John’s Roman Catholic School, in 1943.
In 1952, De Santos successfully gained entry into Central High School.

After high school, he began working at the Guyana Revenue Authority as a Customs Officer. This was a job he did for almost five years.
After years of hard working De Santos, in 1962, was finally able to pursue his dreams of becoming a lawyer.
Through tireless work and perseverance De Santos managed to complete his law degree at the Inns Court School of Law of the Honorable Society of the Middle Temple London England, in 1965.
Upon his return to Guyana he took up a job with the legendary law firm of “Luckhoo and Luckhoo”. However his tenure there was brief, he moved on to his own private practice.
In 1968, De Santos accepted a job offer to become an Acting Magistrate at the Georgetown Magisterial District. He spent one year on the bench. De Santos went back to private practice in 1969 and he started his own law firm. He named it after his prominent legal inspiration JOF Haynes. The name was “Haynes House of Legal Practitioners.”
In 1991, then President Desmond Hoyte appointed De Santos as a senior counsel.
Also in 1991 Dr Cheddi Jagan requested that De Santos join the civic component of the People’s Progressive Party. In 1992 he was put forward as a candidate in the party and helped campaign. After the PPP/C’s victory in October 1992, De Santos was appointed Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs.
Kaieteur News extends sincerest condolences to the De Santos family on the passing of their loved one.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News