Former Chief Justice (ag) Ian Chang, SC, died yesterday following a battle with cancer.
Chang, who passed away at Dr Balwant Singh’s Hospital, served as Chief Justice between 2006 and 2016, when he retired upon reaching the age of 65.
During his tenure on the bench, he presided over numerous high profile cases and he also led a commission of inquiry intended to reform the disciplined forces, and another that investigated late former Home Minister Ronald Gajraj’s involvement in extra-judicial killings.
As word of his passing reached the ears of members of the legal fraternity, tributes flowed on social media as they remembered him as a luminary, mentor and a brilliant mind in the legal profession.
In a statement, the Supreme Court said that the Judiciary and Magistracy are deeply saddened to learn of Chang’s passing.
“Justice Chang served as one of the nation’s Chief Justices from 2006 until his retirement in 2016. He also served with distinction in the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions for over 20 years. Justice Chang served his profession and fellow Guyanese with great honour and integrity. His was a life of service to the nation. He was respected for his phenomenal legal intellect and was a fountain of legal knowledge which he readily shared. Justice Chang’s death will undoubtedly leave a void in the justice system and with colleagues within the legal fraternity whose lives he impacted,” the statement said, while expressing condolences to Chang’s family and friends.
President David Granger, in a brief statement last night, said that he was saddened by Chang’s passing and extended condolences to his immediate family, relatives and friends. General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party Bharrat Jagdeo, in a Facebook post, said that Chang’s death is a great blow to the legal fraternity as it leaves a great hole to be filled.
Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, in a post on Facebook, said that Chang’s “life was the law…his every conversation was hardly about anything other than the law.”
He added, “Every lawyer knew that there was one person to whom they can turn at any hour, day or night, for assistance or guidance on any issue in the law, that person was Justice Chang. He never refused such a request. Indeed, it excited him and he made it his personal assignment or challenge,” he recalled.
Nandlall added, “That he was a special human being is an understatement. Though he rose to the pinnacle in his profession, he remained unusually humble and exceptionally accessible. The power, authority and grandeur of office neither impressed nor changed him.”
He opined that Chang, in delivering written judgements, has surpassed very judge in Guyana’s history and perhaps his peers in the Caribbean. According to Nandlall, no other judge has rendered more written judgments than Chang, though they may have served much longer on the bench. The more difficult, challenging, complex and controversial the legal issues in a case, the more anxious and excited he was to write a judgement, Nandlall said.
Meanwhile, attorney Siand Dhurjon, an executive member of the Guyana Bar Association, said Chang was “one of the most venerated judges of our time. He was inspiration to both senior and junior attorneys alike. We are all the poorer for this loss.”
Attorney James Bond, in a post on social media, said he too was saddened by the former Chief Justice’s passing. “I remember days he would call me off the corridor into his chambers to explain one of his judgments. I recall vividly he was dealing with a matter of administrative law and he touched on concepts I had never heard of and told him he need to take me under his wing. I will definitely miss this legal eagle,” Bond lamented.
Attorney Sanjeev Datadin, in his tribute, said Chang was a “judge with no equal and a man who taught me more than I ever learnt at school.” He stated that legend is a word thrown around a lot but Chang was a true legend.
“He would sometimes visit and sit in my kitchen, I never knew why we would end up in the kitchen for hours on end (neither of us cooked) and he didn’t drink … I will miss him and discussions of law that would go on over several conversations spanning weeks on the same issue,” Datadin said.
