Dear Editor,
Yesterday, the University of Guyana Department of Law paused in recognition of the defining journey travelled by the Honourable Madam Justice Desiree Bernard.
To begin with it must be noted, that the ‘Desiree Bernard’ story can never be replicated but will be told for ages to come. The Justice built a luminous foundation for half a century, informing and transforming jurisprudential thought within Guyana and the wider Commonwealth Caribbean.
Justice Bernard’s story embodies that unyielding hope of a better Guyana. It is one that reminds us that with hard work, discipline, dignity and determination every boy and girl can reach for the stars.
Justice Bernard read Law at the University of London, where she graduated with the LLB (Hons) degree in 1963. By 1970 Bernard JCCJ was elevated to the magistracy in Guyana. In the following decade, Bernard JCCJ became the first female Justice of the High Court of Guyana and the Court of Appeal in 1992. In 1996 the Commonwealth Caribbean saw its first female Chief Judge who was none other than Justice Bernard.
By 2001 Bernard JCCJ once more proved that through dedication and hard work all things are possible by becoming the English-speaking Caribbean’s first female Chancellor. In 2005, Justice Bernard took the oath of office of the Caribbean Court of Justice, joining Guyanese jurist, the learned Justice-Professor Duke E E Pollard JCCJ as a Judge of that dignified body.
In October of 2013, Justice Bernard joined with the six other justices of the CCJ in giving to the region an eagerly awaited ruling in the matter of Shanique Myrie and the states of Barbados and Jamaica. This interpretation of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas establishing the Caribbean Community including the Caricom Single Market and Economy, has caused the region to critically reflect on its obligation in realising true integration. The Myrie ruling will remain one of those outstanding decisions of the CCJ.
It is for these reasons, among others, that as students-at-law we take this opportunity to recognise the indomitable will of Justice Bernard. Resounding hope is created in us through the telling of her story; doubters of the Guyanese dream are made believers because of this story. A story that through hard work, sacrifice, dignity, determination and respect we can be anything we would like to be.
And it is with profound gratitude and great humility we say gratias tibi, honor est vobis.
Yours faithfully,
Kevin P Morgan
On behalf of the Moot Court Guyana
University of Guyana Law Society
