Senior Counsel Rex McKay, OR, CCH, has died at the age of 95 in the wee hours of Thursday at a private hospital in Georgetown.
According to reports, the veteran Guyanese attorney had been suffering from a prolonged illness. 
During his illustrious career, McKay, who had been appointed Senior Counsel in October 1975, had appeared in many high-profile cases in this country. Conferred with the Order of Roraima – Guyana’s second highest national award – in 2016 for his long, dedicated and outstanding service as a legal practitioner in the country, he had also been awarded the Cacique Crown of Honour – the second highest award in the Order of Service of Guyana.
Founder of the law firm McKay and Moore, McKay had also owned WRHM TV Channel 7.
Back in October, in the third instalment of its Eminent Caribbean Jurists series, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Academy of Law had honoured eight Guyanese among 48 outstanding Caribbean lawyers. McKay had been among those honoured. He was considered a giant of the legal profession, representing historical, transitional, and contemporary epochs of law and development in the region.
The other lawyers honoured were: Professor JOF Haynes; Ashton Chase, OE; Dr Mohamed Shahabuddeen; Sir Lionel Alfred Luckhoo; Sir Fenton Ramsahoye; Clarence Hughes, and Dr Claude Denbow. McKay was one of two Guyanese lawyers from that list who was still alive at the time. Dr Denbow is now the only one remaining alive. Ashton Chase died back in July at the age of 96.
Distinguished and sterling legal career
In a tribute to McKay, Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, said his distinguished and sterling legal career spanned approximately six decades. He was admitted to practice law in British Guiana in the year 1956, having completed his legal education at the University of London and at Lincoln’s Inn, from where he graduated as a Barrister-at-Law.
Almost immediately upon his return to British Guiana, McKay, through his industry, his ability to do research, and his impeccable style of writing, began to make an impact in the legal profession. These were traits which obviously only improved immeasurably with the passage of time. So much so that, nearing the end of his career, McKay’s knowledge of the law was almost encyclopedic.
Legal colossus
AG Nandlall said that both in physical stature and learning, McKay was a legal colossus. “He used both his imposing physical frame and his vast knowledge of the law to his strategic advantage. He acquitted himself with distinction, initially in Criminal Law, and then Civil Law; when Constitutional and Public Law began to assume prominence in the early 80s and onwards, he loomed large in that area of the law as well. Very few lawyers, not only in Guyana but the entire Commonwealth, were able to achieve such distinction in all these various and varying branches of the law,” AG said in his tribute.
He added that McKay appeared in most of the leading cases of his time in Guyana in all the aforesaid areas of the law. The Law Reports of British Guiana, the Guyana Law Reports, the West Indian Reports and the Commonwealth Law Reports are adorned with the many leading cases in which he appeared, both in Guyana and in the Caribbean.
In Criminal Law, he appeared for both the defence and the prosecution. He prosecuted some of the most high-profile and politically controversial cases in the 1970s and 80s, including the murder charge filed against Arnold Rampersaud and the arson charges filed against Dr. Walter Rodney and Dr Rupert Roopnarine in respect of the burning of a building on Camp Street which housed an office of the People’s National Congress.
From the 1990s, up until he retired, he appeared in every leading political case filed against the People’s Progressive Party Civic Government, including several Elections Petitions, for example, Ester Pereira’s.
McKay also appeared in several political cases in Antigua and St. Lucia. He also served as a Justice of Appeal in the Court of Appeal of Grenada that heard the Maurice Bishop assassination case.
In practice, AG said, McKay was a fierce competitor, always extraordinarily prepared, and was exceptionally tenacious.
“If there was ever a case law authority to support the position which he advocates, notwithstanding if it is reported in a most obscure source, he would find it and draw it to the Court’s attention. I appeared against him in many cases, particularly in political cases, as he was always on the opposite side. It was never an easy task. He reduced sledging at the Bar Table into a fine art, and dished it out to opposing counsel with seamless and uncanny ease. Like every counsel who appeared against him, I endured my fair share. Notwithstanding, you knew that you were facing one of the best, and that realisation propelled excellence. I enjoyed the challenges and learned greatly from them,” Nandlall added.
McKay’s aggression to win was another motivating factor, the AG said, adding that if the ruling is ever against him, rest assured a Notice of Appeal will be filed and served in the shortest possible time. His zeal was exceptional, and his dogged determination inspiring, and sometimes infuriating.
“No doubt, Rex Herbert McKay has etched his name in the annals of our country as one of the greatest lawyers Guyana has produced. Not surprisingly, he was awarded silk in the mid-70s, and was also bestowed with two national awards, the Cacique’s Crown of Honour and the Order of Roraima. Most recently, he was fittingly recognised by the Caribbean Court of Justice Academy of Law and honoured among 48 outstanding Caribbean lawyers and jurists.”
McKay, he added, was also a sports enthusiast as well as an entrepreneur. He was a national cyclist and first division cricketer of the Malteenoes Sport Club.
“His knowledge of cricket, football, basketball, boxing, horse racing and other sports disciplines was perhaps comparable with his knowledge of the law. He was always ready to update you on any ongoing international sports event, or any sports personality. As a businessman, he was engaged in a number of commercial ventures, including the airline and television industry, owning and operating the once popular WRHM TV.”
Nandlall said McKay SC, OR, CCH, had nothing short of an illustrious career in the legal profession, and would have impacted the lives of hundreds of lawyers over his marathon 60-year-long span of practice.
His contributions will continue to guide lawyers, judges, and future generations in many years to come. The void left will certainly take a long time to fill.
“To his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and other relatives, on behalf of the Government of Guyana, the Attorney General’s Chambers, and Ministry of Legal Affairs, and personally, I offer my most profound condolences. Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un,” AG said in his condolences to McKay’s family. McKay will be buried today. (G8)
