Retired Chancellor Kenneth George, who passed away last month, was remembered as an ordinary man who was elevated to the heights of the legal profession because of his clear vision, and a focused and searching mind.
His judgments in criminal and civil law were celebrated as important decisions in local jurisprudence during a Full Court Sitting of the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
His legal career was hailed as one of the finest in the history of the profession here, and his commitment to the law, and to public service was noted as rare. The point was made that Justice George was never one to shy away from writing decisions.
While the tributes largely celebrated Justice George’s brilliance in the profession, a few recollections recalled his sternness and the fear he drove into young, ill-prepared lawyers.
“He barked sharply, but he had no inclination to bite…if he has such an inclination I would have been well bitten”, acting Chief Justice, Ian Chang said.
Senior Counsel Miles Fitzpatrick recalled witnessing an episode where Justice George devastated an attorney appearing before him.
“He was a bulldog on the bench… I have seen him literally tear a lawyer to pieces whose ego after that was left at the door every time he entered the courtroom,” Fitzpatrick recalled.
But Fitzpatrick noted that Justice George possessed a rare quality, and was a man of extraordinary capacity, saying that the former Chancellor gave to the state that which belonged to the state and that, “he has served it well”.
Tributes also flowed from the Chancellor (ag) Justice Carl Singh, the Guyana Bar Association and Attorney General, Charles Ramson SC among others.
Chancellor Singh noted that the former Chancellor brought dignity, discipline and decorum to the many offices he held, adding that he served the profession with distinction. He stated that Justice George had very little sympathy for the ill-prepared lawyers, but pointed out that he was imbued with a sense of fairness and fair play.
Chief Justice (ag) Chang humorously reflected on Justice George’s bark, but also noted that the former Chancellor was both intelligent and knowledgeable. The Chief Justice added that Justice George had an insightful and searching mind, and that his thoughts took him to the frontiers of jurisprudential development.
The Attorney General praised Justice George for his practical approach to the law, even recalling a decision that the former Chancellor made in a case in which he appeared as a litigant, hailing it as an enlightened one.
Ramson said that Justice George was invited to sit on the bench at a time when the magistracy was competitive, noting that he was man of integrity, passion and devotion. Further, he said that Justice George was endowed with an incisive mind.
President of the Guyana Bar Association (GBA), Teni Housty issued a call for the law reports to be updated in Chancellor George’s honour saying that it is unfortunate, tragic and perhaps even a possible miscarriage of justice that the reports have not been updated.
He noted that the former Chancellor’s impact on land law is such that his cases have been described as the bible for those students studying land law in Guyana at the Hugh Wooding law school in Trinidad.
Attorney Sheila Chapman, representing the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers praised Justice George for breaking ground in the law as it relates to a common law wife and her husband. She said that he pioneered many reforms in that aspect of the law in the 1970s when he ruled in a particular case that an unmarried woman sharing a relationship with a man was entitled to certain rights such as a right to property providing equal efforts were involved in its acquisition.
Chapman said that Justice George made it abundantly clear that the law had moved away from the position of treating a man and his mistress as strangers. She added that he was a man of enlightened personality who made reasoned decisions.
Condolences were extended to Justice George’s family, who were also present at the sitting.
