New areas of law to accelerate modernisation for Caribbean countries

GINA, Guyana, Monday, January 31, 2017

As Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean countries are emerging into new economies, the JOF Haynes Law School of the Americas (JHLSA) which will be established in Guyana is expected to produce a core of lawyers that will help to accelerate modernisation.

Law is a catalyst for modernising any economy, aside from the traditional legal skills, areas such as environmental and sports law, intellectual property law, banking and finance law, civil aviation, maritime and tax law have significantly assisted in forming new economies across the world  according to the Ministerial Advisor on the law school venture, Dr. Trevor Hamilton.

These areas, Dr. Trevor Hamilton said, will be explored at the JOF Haynes Law School of the Americas which will offer its services to other Caribbean countries. “Twenty years ago, these subjects were not taught at law schools. Everybody thinks that when you go to law school, you go to court and you deal with some criminals and all that… so the lawyers that we (JOF Haynes Law School of the Americas) will be producing will help to make changes and accelerate modernisation,” Dr. Hamilton explained.

For Guyana, these new areas that will be explored will be of significant importance as the country prepares for its emerging oil and gas industry.

On January 11, the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Senior Counsel (SC) Basil Williams, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of the Caribbean (UCC) and Law College of the Americas (LCA) for the establishment of the JOF Haynes law school in Guyana.

The establishment of the Law School is expected to significantly reduce the cost, particularly to Guyanese, to continue with their law studies for the Legal Education Certificate (LEC) while attracting other students from across the Caribbean.

The Law School will fall under the aegis of the Council for Legal Education (CLE), the regional regulatory body, and hopes to attract upwards of 400 students when its campus is constructed and opened in 2018. In the meantime, the law school will begin registration for the two-year Legal Education Certificate (LEC) programme in September of this year.

Graduates of the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) programmes at the UCC/LCA Law Faculty, as well as graduates from other law faculties across the Caribbean, will be given priority admission to the planned two-year programme at the JOF Haynes Law School of Americas effective September 2017 January 2018. The public private partnership will see a feasibility study being undertaken before the construction of the law school in 2018.

By Syneika Thorne