In May of last year the Office of the Chancellor of the Judiciary issued an invitation for attorneys-at-law desirous of being elevated to Senior Counsel to apply, however nine months later the process appears to have stalled.
Over the course of the nine months Stabroek News has reached out to the Chancellor of the Judiciary Justice Carl Singh on several occasions for an update on the process but there has been none. Senior Counsel appointments have not been made for 18 years.
Observers had been critical of the sudden interest in appointing Senior Counsel after the long gap. It had been suggested that the major impetus was to enable the elevation of Attorney General Anil Nandlall who is the first Attorney General to occupy the office without having senior counsel status. Since October, however, Nandlall has been embroiled in a raging controversy over the content of a phone conversation he had with a Kaieteur News reporter.
Nandlall had been heard saying that deadly force could be used against the Kaieteur News and he also repeatedly attempted to arrange a sexual liaison between a KN reporter and a relative of his, among other controversial statements. The controversy resulted in the Guyana Bar Association and the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers calling for his resignation. The call by the legal practitioners’ bodies for his resignation suggested that there was little to no chance of the AG’s preferment being considered.
Head of the Bar Association, Ronald Burch-Smith recently told Stabroek News that the behaviour of the Attorney General showcased the question of the standards required for such an elevation. He said that “somebody appointed Senior Counsel should represent the highest standards of the profession not just their professional capacity, but privately…they should be someone that young lawyers can look up to. I don’t believe the Attorney General is deserving and is such a person that meets those standards.”
Burch-Smith said that since the Attorney General’s recording was released and the public outcry over Nandlall’s words the Senior Counsel appointment process “just disappeared.”
He said he is not aware of the current status of the process, but did state that so far the Bar Association was not contacted by the Office of the Chancellor for any feedback. He noted that there is no law governing the appointment process which has ensured that there has been an 18-year gap since the last appointments.
The Law Society of England and Wales appoints Queen’s Counsel on a percentage basis, ensuring that a standard percentage is always taken from those eligible to hold the post in contrast to no such policy in Guyana.
When the advertisement was first published in the local media last year Burch-Smith welcomed the idea stating that the elevation was long overdue. He stated that “it is a very important appointment and a mark of recognition for excellent work,” adding that based on skills, there would have been a substantial number of persons who would be deserving of the appointment since the last elevations in 1996.
Speaking to Stabroek News more recently Burch-Smith stated that over the course of the last 20 years there have been many lawyers that would have showcased excellence in the profession and that should be reflected in their appointment as Senior Counsel.
