Ashton Chase, OE, SC, remembered for distinguished service to legal profession

The Bar Council of the Guyana Bar Association (GBA) and the Berbice Bar Association (BBA) have expressed condolences at the passing of legal luminary Ashton Chase, OE,SC, who died on July 10 at the age of 96.
In a statement on Thursday, the GBA said Chase was the father of labour and industrial relations law in Guyana, a politician, a Barrister-at-Law, an Attorney-at-Law, as well as a prolific author.
The GBA pointed out that, as the first Labour, Industry, and Commerce Minister, appointed in 1953 at the age of 28 after universal adult suffrage had been granted by the Colonial Government, Chase was responsible for piloting legislation permitting the recognition of trade unions on the basis of a majority vote among employees.

The GBA statement added, “The Bill was one of the reasons the colonial Government decided to suspend the Constitution in 1953. This groundbreaking legislation was put on hold until 1997, bringing the freedom to choose their own representation to workers across Guyana.”
The GBA statement also said that during his long and distinguished career as an attorney-at-law, Chase wrote extensively on industrial relations, labour and employment law, publishing several books in the field, such as The Law of Workmen’s Compensation (1963); A History of Trade Unionism in Guyana (1966); Industrial Law (1974); Trade Union Law in the Caribbean (1976), and Industrial Relations (1981).
Further, the GBA highlighted that the late Senior Counsel had appeared in dozens of cases that are now reported in the West Indian Reports, six of which have also been reported in the Law Reports of the Commonwealth, and many more which are reported in the Law Reports of British Guiana and the Guyana Law Reports.
Among the notable cases in which Chase appeared during his career were Peter Persaud vs Pln Versailles (1970), in which the law of unjust enrichment was accepted 21 years before its acceptance in England; Albert Shanks vs Continental Biscuit Company (1977), the landmark case on wrongful dismissal coming out of Guyanese courts; Guyana Sugar Corporation vs Seeram Teemal (1983), on the inability of an employer to unilaterally vary the terms of a contract of employment; and Sheik Mazahudin vs Guyana Sugar Corporation Ltd (1984), another important case on the principles of wrongful dismissal.
He also appeared in Ali vs Teaching Services Commission (1993), on the ineffectiveness of restrictions on the right to seek redress for breaches of constitutional rights; Attorney General vs Mohamed Alli (1989), where legislation was invalidated for unconstitutionality because the legitimate expectation of trade unions to be consulted before it was passed was not met; and Attorney General vs Caterpillar Americas (2000), on the application of the principle of eminent domain in Guyana.
Chase, who was born on July 18, 1926, read law at Gray’s Inn in England, and was called to the Bar in 1957. He served as President of the Senate between 1961 and 1964.
He further served several stints with distinction as President of the Bar Association of Guyana in its most vibrant years in the 1980s and 1990s. According to the GBA, the service of Chase extended beyond the shores of Guyana to the wider Caribbean, as Chairman of the Council of Legal Education (CLE), the governing body of the law schools in the Caribbean, from 1992 to 1998.
He has the distinct honour of being the only Guyanese to so serve as Chairman of the CLE.
For his distinguished service in the law, he was deservingly appointed Senior Counsel In 1985.
Meanwhile, in another statement, the Berbice Bar Association said, “Beginning at a very youthful age, Chase has given valuable yeoman-like service to our country, and his contribution to politics, labour, and the law in Guyana is matched by efforts of only a few sons and daughters of the soil.”
Both the GBA and BBA have extended condolences to Chase’s wife, Deborah; and to his children: Dr. Ronald, Serita, and former President of the Bar Association, Pauline.
Senior Counsel Ashton Chase will be cremated today. (G1)