The Bar Council of the Guyana Bar Association yesterday upbraided the government over deficient consultations on the local content bill which was passed yesterday and insisted that 100% of legal services should be provided by attorneys here and not 90%.
The Council also rebuked Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC for giving the impression in parliament yesterday that Guyanese legal practitioners do not have the capacity to handle some matters which he described as “technical legal documents” and “joint venture agreements”.
“We outright reject these ill-informed comments particularly since we have not, despite request, … been told what areas of law members of the Bar in Guyana are not qualified to practice (there being no such limitation in the Legal Practitioners Act) and who is to provide the other 10%”, the Bar Association said in a statement.
The Council noted that the bill had been gazetted only on December 15th and had been scheduled for second reading and passage yesterday. The council said that a draft copy of the Bill was not made available to the Bar Association prior to its publication, as is usually the case, for consideration and comment since it concerns legal services.
“With less than one (1) working day notice, the Bar Association was invited to a meeting, with other bodies, to discuss the Bill. Discussions convened without having the benefit of a draft Bill.
Notwithstanding the short notice, tight timeline and absence of the proposed Bill, the Bar Association made submissions thereon. Since the publication of the Bill, the Bar Association has sought further engagement, made comments and raised queries to which there has been no considered response despite the undertaking to do so by 2:15pm yesterday 28th December, 2021”, the Council lamented.
As regards legal services, the Council said the provisions of the Bill collide with other legislative instruments.
“With regard to legal services, the practice of law in this jurisdiction is governed by the Legal Practitioners Act, Cap. 4:01 (LPA). No recognition appears to have been given to the fact that only Attorneys-at-Law admitted to practice Law in Guyana under the LPA, may hold themselves out to be entitled to perform legal services in Guyana”, the Council said.
It added that the provision made for legal services is not in accordance with similar provisions in other jurisdictions with Local Content Legislation, such as Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania where it is mandatory for the legal services in the country to be provided by nationals with an established office in country, requirements advanced and submitted by the Bar Association, so far, without being given effect.
The Council argued that there is no justification for the provision of legal services to be anything other than 100%.
“In its present form, the regulatory framework of the Bill, is in conflict with, and does not give effect to the expressed intention of the Bill in its very long title.
“Local Content legislation is of utmost importance in the current economic construct of Guyana. While we welcome this step of legislative force, as we advocated for during Local Content Policy engagements (distinct from consultations on the Bill), it is of equal importance that same comply and not conflict with legal requirements”, the Council added.
The Council added that the statements made by the Attorney General on the capacity of local lawyers are without basis, empirical or otherwise, in violation of the LPA and wholly disrespectful to members of the Bar who already perform the said services including Senior Counsel.
“There ought to be a withdrawal of these comments on the record and an unreserved apology to members of the Guyana Bar”, the Council said.
