Caribbean attorney and journalist Oscar Ramjeet has led the efforts to publish a Commemorative Magazine to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Council of Legal Education (CLE) and its achievements since the regional institution was established by Caribbean Governments five decades ago.
In a statement announcing the publication, Ramjeet, who compiled and edited the 88-page magazine, said it touches on a wide range of subjects, including outstanding accomplishments of a number of Caribbbean law graduates.
“Prior to the establishment of the CLE, Law students had to journey thousands of miles to London, UK, in the bitter cold and at high costs to read Law and because they can now study in the region, the Caribbean now boasts of more than 10,280 Lawyers who have qualified to practice Law from the three CLE Law Schools in the Caribbean being Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica, Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Eugene Dupuch Law School in the Bahamas,” he noted.
The magazine features profiles of Norman Manley, Hugh Wooding and Eugene Dupuch as well as photos of the Norman Manley Law School’s 1979 graduating class reunion. Ramjeet noted that while there were more men than women and since that time the large number of females entering the legal industry continues to outnumber their male counterparts by a seven to three margin.
In addition, there are also profiles of several outstanding female Caribbean lawyers, including President Sandra Mason of Barbados, President Paula-Mae Weekes of Trinidad and Tobago, Justice Desiree Bernard of Guyana and Justice Zaila McCalla of Jamaica.
Ramjeet observed that the women lawyers featured have broken the glass ceiling and served in the highest national and legal positions in many jurisdictions and serve as standard bearers across the Carib-bean.
Feature articles have been written by Dame Sandra Mason, current President of Barbados and a student in the first cohort, former Prime Minister of St Lucia and Head of the UWI Law Faculty and Lecturer Dr Kenny D Anthony, the distinguished Law Lecturer Dr Francis Alexis and Anil Nandlall, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs of Guyana.
“These esteemed legal contributors made some startling suggestions in calls for change to include a complete review of the CLE Law School training system, including the need for the use of more technology and a call for a new Law School to serve the OECS Islands,” Ramjeet noted.
A number of congratulatory messages are included from some of the graduates, including two Carib-bean Heads of State, Dame Sandra Mason of Barbados and Sir Tapley Seaton of St. Kitts/Nevis, Justice Adrian Saunders, President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the region’s Apex Court, Chief Justices Dame Janice Pereira, Ivor Archie and Roxane George, former President of the Jamaican Appellate Court Justice Denis Morrison, Tilman Thomas, former Prime Minister of Grenada, and Dr Lloyd Barnett of Jamaica.
Ramjeet added that Dame Joan Sawyer of the Bahamas and Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados are both featured as they are outstanding lawyers who were both trained in law outside of the Caribbean.
Ramjeet, who served as Solicitor General in two jurisdictions St Vincent and the Grenadines and Belize and was admitted to practice in eight jurisdictions, was aided with the publication by Lokesh Singh, Managing Director of Advertising and Marketing Services, a St Lucian company that played a major role in providing images, designing and laying out.
The magazine can be accessed online at: https://issuu.com/amsguyana/docs/cle_50th_anniversary_publication
