Committees set up to monitor establishment

Local law school

As the Guyana Government moves to establish a law school here, two committees will be established to have oversight to ensure that the project is being pursued in accordance with the necessary requirements.

According to Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams, this decision was taken during the recently concluded meeting of Council of Legal Education’s (CLE) Executive Committee held in Kingston, Jamaica, last week.

“The Executive Committee agreed that two committees would be set up to collaborate on the proposal to establish the JOF Haynes Law School of the

Americas in Guyana, in keeping with the criteria required for law schools under the auspices of the CLE,” he stated.

According to the Legal Affairs Minister, the Government will establish one of the committees which will include representatives of its joint venture partners and the Attorneys General of Jamaica and Guyana. Meanwhile, CLE’s committee will comprise of its Chairman, Reginald Armour, SC; the Principals of Hugh Wooding, Norman Manley and Eugene Dupuch Law Schools; and the University of the West Indies (UWI) Dean for the Faculty of Law, Dr Leighton Jackson.

Moreover, the Legal Affairs Minister outlined that the recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Guyana Government and the University College of the Caribbean (UCC) and the Law College of the Americas (LCA) will see a feasibility study being conducted to ensure that all the requirements of the Council are met.

“The CLE’s requirements for the establishment of its law schools include matters such as physical plant, staffing, library facilities and infrastructures. The feasibility study to be undertaken pursuant to the MoU… will encompass those criteria,” Williams noted.

Government’s move to establish the JOF Haynes Law School of the Americas in Guyana comes on the heels of law students from the University of Guyana (UG) continuing to face challenges in finding spots at the Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) in Trinidad to pursue their Legal Education Certificate. The agreement between the Guyana Government and HWLS to facilitate this arrangement comes to an end next year and so Government is hoping to have the law school up and running here by 2018.

However, before any physical construction gets underway, a feasibility study will have to be conducted to determine the best route of implementing this project.

The project will be undertaken in the form of a public private partnership, with Government holding 30 per cent interest and the private partners 70 per cent.

Government’s contribution will be to provide the land needed for the development of the school, which is anticipated to accommodate up to 400 students.

With the law school operating under the Council of Legal Education, it will therefore be open to students all across the region.