Dear Editor,
As a result of the fallacious letter penned in the Guyana Chronicle of Monday, October 15th, 2012, headlined `Robbing Guyanese law students of opportunities’, I feel that a response is warranted to give a clear picture of the situation at the University of Guyana and what was said by the learned Head of Department (Law) Mr Sheldon A. McDonald at the Law Social held on Saturday, September 13, 2012. It is submitted that the writer of letter must have misheard or misunderstood what was said given the “facts” that were put forward.
The letter states that the HoD “…announced that the non-Guyanese Law students who would have (sic) done their LL.B in Guyana (are) to be included as part of the 25 students that are allowed automatic entry into the Hugh Wooding Law School, Trinidad…” This is simply not true as will be explained later.
The letter continues “The tripartite agreement comes to an end in November 2012 and is currently being re[-]negotiated.” which is once again untrue.
The collaborative tripartite agreement Guyana has with the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Council of Legal Education which allows for the top 25 graduates of the LLB programme to gain automatic acceptance into the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad comes to an end in December 2012 (as opposed to November which the letter stated). However, formal negotiations have not yet begun.
The last point to be cleared up is where the letter states
“On Monday, October 15, 2012, Mr. McDonald will be attending the re-negotiation meeting during which he is expected to present UG’s proposals to include non-Guyanese nationals who would have (sic) done the LLB programme at the University of Guyana, to be included as part of the 25 students.”
Mr. McDonald did not have to attend any such meeting as it did not exist. Instead, he and the Registrar, Mr. Vincent Alexander had to attend a meeting of the Board, Faculty of Law, Cave Hill on Friday, October 19th where no such proposal was put forward by the learned HoD.
The best way to address the aforementioned points is to quote from the Report of the Department of Law for the Period 2011-2012. Please note that this Report, apart from being required by the Faculty of Social Sciences, will also be tabled in toto, at the Faculty Board Meeting. The Report states, inter alia:
“6. During the period, the Department participated in the Meetings of the Law Faculty Board of the University of the West Indies (Cave Hill) in that regard it must be noted that the authorities of the UWI have decided to establish three (3) Faculties of Law at (Mona, Jamaica); (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago) and (Cave Hill, Barbados).
7. While not directly related, this development fundamentally impacts upon the University of Guyana-University of the West Indies (Cave Hill)-Council of Legal Education Collaborative Agreement. That instrument is up for re-negotiation during the present calendar year, terminating as it does in December, 2012. The authorities of the University of Guyana have determined that there will be efforts to ensure autonomy of the LLB Programme on par with that of the three Faculties, even as efforts are made to enhance the Library Facilities, as well as the physical infrastructure of the Department, and the complement of Faculty. The Department is confident in the fact that the success of the LLB at Law School means that the UG Programme has come of age. In that regard, certain initiatives involving cataloguing of the Law Collection in the Library, with a view to strengthening it, have commenced.
8. The initial moves in that regard will take place at the Faculty of Law (Cave Hill) Board meeting on the 19th of October, to be attended by the Head of the Department, Mr. Sheldon A. McDonald, supported by the Registrar, Mr. Vincent Alexander.
9. Shortly thereafter, the formal re-negotiation of the Collaborative Agreement will begin. It is to be noted that unlike in previous years, Members of the Department will be a part of the Negotiating Team. Additionally, the Office of the Attorney-General will also have a Representative on the Team.
10. A major issue which has resurfaced is the discrimination between Guyanese Nationals and non-Guyanese Nationals who are automatically placed in the twenty-five (25) students admitted to the Hugh Wooding Law School. The University of Guyana opposes the discrimination based on nationality only, meted out to CARICOM Nationals, Graduates from UG, but recalls that this was the position recommended to the Heads of Government by the CLE. This is a matter to be resolved by the Parties to the Agreement Establishing the Council for Legal Education, but at this stage ought not to involve a diminution of the numbers accorded to Guyanese. The principle of legitimate expectation requires this position be upheld.
Finally, the letter calls upon the Ministry of Education and the Attorney-General’s chambers to intervene. Once again, being ignorant of the situation, it should be noted that a delegation from the University (in which the HoD is included) was scheduled to meet with the Honourable Attorney-General on Wednesday, October 17th. This meeting had to be postponed due to the schedule of the Honourable Attorney-General.
As can be seen from the above, the majority of the letter that was put forward was simply untrue and no Guyanese will be “robbed” of his/her opportunity to attend Hugh Wooding Law School. Instead the University seeks to preserve a minimum of twenty-five Guyanese gaining automatic acceptance while seeking to open the door for Non-Guyanese who attend our prestigious institution.
Further, one should always have sufficient knowledge of the situation at hand before seeking to pronounce on it, something the writer clearly lacked. One just has to approach the Department or the University of Guyana Law Society (the body which represents law students) with any concern and it will be efficiently answered.
On behalf of the UGLS,
Naresh Poonai
President
University of the
Guyana Law Society
