Anti-Caribbean, foolish, backward – AG slams PNC lawyer’s criticism of regional legal hire

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, has criticised People’s National Congress (PNC) lawyer Darren Wade for rejecting Guyana’s hiring of regional attorneys.
The Guyana Government has retained the services of Jamaican attorney Terrence F Williams, KC, to represent the United States (US) Government in its extradition proceedings against Guyanese businessmen Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed. Under international obligations, the costs associated with the process leading to the extradition, including providing legal representation, are to be borne by Guyana.
Wade, however, in a social media post on November 11, criticised the hiring of the Caribbean lawyer, stating, “this situation is particularly alarming when many of our young, qualified Guyanese lawyers are finding it hard to find employment and gain work experience. It is clear that these foreign lawyers were retained and admitted to the Guyana Bar specifically for this purpose.”
Extraordinarily foolish

In rebuking the lawyer’s remarks, Nandlall reminded that Guyanese have worked, and continue to work, throughout the Caribbean for decades, across every profession, including the legal field.
“Guyanese occupy high legal offices throughout the Caribbean; the Chief Justice of Belize is a Guyanese, you have many Guyanese who are Judges in the eastern Caribbean… Many Judges are Guyanese, many magistrates are Guyanese, many prosecutors and lawyers within the State Department of these countries are Guyanese,” Nandlall highlighted.
“We speak in Guyana and in the region about regional unity; we are pursuing common employment, in particular in the professional field under the CSME arrangement. It’s an extraordinarily foolish and backward statement to make,” he added.
The Attorney General also noted that Wade’s statement is particularly concerning, given that Guyana is in the process of establishing its own law school, which aims to attract participation from across the wider Caribbean region.
Guyana has gotten the green light to establish a Council of Legal Education (CLE)-accredited law school, and preparatory works are already underway for the construction of the facility within the University of Guyana (UG) Turkeyen Campus.
Funding for the law school will be included in the next budgetary cycle, and thereafter, the procurement process to select a contractor will commence.
“We are building a regional law school here, where we want the whole region to come, and here is this backward mentality being expressed and given some prominence in some quarters on the social media,” Nandlall lamented.