LAW WEEK

Law Week, sponsored by the Guyana Bar Association (GBA), is yet another innovative and imaginative effort by the legal profession to highlight and promote the importance of law and a law-based society in Guyana. Law Week commenced with the ceremonial opening of the April Assizes which involved for the first time a procession of Judges […]

CIVIL SOCIETY

Civil society began to attain prominence about fifty years ago as non-state actors outside the political and business communities. The World Bank defines civil society as “a wide array of organisations: community groups, non-governmental organisations [NGOs], labour unions, indigenous groups, charitable organisations, faith-based organisations, professional associations, and foundations.” Under generally accepted principles of democracy and […]

THE CONSEQENCES OF HOLDING OFFICE ILLEGALLY

The statement issued by the Bar Council of the Guyana Bar Association during last week quoted a dictum of the Chief Justice (ag) in the case of Attorney General of Guyana v Dr. Barton Scotland, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo and Mr. Joseph Harmonas follows: “I hold that the NCM [no confidence motion] was carried as the requisite majority was obtained by a vote of […]

THE CASE AGAINST IVOR ARCHIE

Ivor Archie has been the Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago (TT) for ten years and is a prominent judicial personality in the Caribbean. On 12 November 2017 the Sunday Express alleged that the Chief Justice had tried to influence Supreme Court Justices to change their state-provided personal security in favor of a private company […]

SYSTEMIC VIOLENCE AND CORRUPTION IN THE POLICE FORCE

This article below was first published in June, 2014, in a different political era. The recent shooting by the Police of three men on the seawall demonstrates the continuing relevance of the issues discussed at that time. I wrote as follows: Violence and corruption in the police force can no longer be classified as allegations. […]