Legislative expert, ‘Bryn’ Pollard, S.C. dies

Jan 26, 2020 News

The legal fraternity is in mourning after Senior Counsel, Brynmor ‘Bryn’ Pollard, 91, died on Friday.

The late Brynmor Pollard, S.C.

He was well known for his work in CARICOM, the Commonwealth and drafting of legislations.
According to his son, prominent attorney-at-law, Andrew Pollard, S.C., Brynmor Thorton Inniss Pollard, SC, CCH, OR was born to Muriel and Fitzgerald (“F.H”) Pollard in the village of Buxton, East Coast Demerara, on October 19, 1928.
The only boy, Brynmor had four sisters— Elsa, Cynthia, Mavis, and Magda.
His parents were schoolteachers, and the family moved to Georgetown when he was still in primary school, when F.H. was appointed the principal School Inspector for Georgetown, in the then Department of Education.
He attended Queen’s College of Guyana, when it was still located at Brickdam. After graduating from Sixth Form, he taught at the school briefly, before proceeding to London to read for the bar. After graduation, he returned to Guyana in 1959, when he was admitted to the Guyana Bar.
Pollard commenced private practice with fellow Buxtonian, Sir John Carter, QC, at his Chambers in First Federation Life Insurance building at Croal Street and Manget Place, Brickdam.
He was invited to join the Attorney-General’s Chambers by his lifelong friend, the then Attorney-General Sir Shridath Surendranath “Sonny” Ramphal, QC.
The late Senior Counsel was married to Jean Adair Mordecai whom he met while a law student in London, on the 7th day of February, 1959, in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, where her father Sir John Mordecai, was resident as the Governor-General of the West Indian Federation, the fore-runner to the Caribbean Community.
Pollard was invited to take silk and became Queens Counsel in 1970, shortly before Guyana attained republican status.
He became Chief Parliamentary Counsel, and has been an acknowledged authority on legislative drafting, constitutional and public law, and related matters.
Sir Shridath, Francis O.C. Harris, and Pollard produced the Ramphal edition of the Laws of Guyana in 1974, which some lawyers regard as the last completely authoritative version.
He left the service of the Government of Guyana in 1979 when he was engaged by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) and seconded to the Caribbean Community as General Counsel.
At the Secretariat, he assisted in the harmonisation of the region’s Companies law, and providing assistance to the Constitutional assembly of Namibia, South West Africa which was poised to attain independence at the time, and was a leading participant in the efforts of the Council of Legal Education and its two law schools in Trinidad and Jamaica.
He was Vice-Chairman of the Juridical Committee of the OAS from 2000 – 2002.
He retired from CFTC in 1995, but remained active as a consultant in his profession, and a prolific letter-writer cautioning successive administrations on potential slips and errors.
He was nominated by the practicing Bar to act as its representative on the Judicial Service Committee, where he again provided solid service for several years until demitting office in 2010.
Lending to the voices, expressing condolences, was the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, S. C. who described Pollard as an outstanding attorney.
Message of Condolence on the death of Mr. Brynmor Pollard, OR, CCH, SC, from
President David Granger, in a statement said he is saddened at the death of the legal luminary.
“For his outstanding contributions in the field of law at the national, regional, Commonwealth and international levels, Mr. Pollard was conferred the Cacique’s Crown of Honour (CCH) and later in 2015, with the Order of Roraima.”
“President Granger expresses heartfelt sympathy to Mr. Pollard’s four children –Mr. Andrew Pollard, SC; Under Secretary General of the United Nations, Ms. Catherine Pollard, Messrs Ian and Michael Pollard and his six grandchildren – Gina, Angelica, Nikolas, Tyla, Nataliya and Julia and other relatives and friends,” the statement said.

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