Guyana is set to take a major step toward establishing its first law school, with a sod-turning ceremony scheduled for Thursday at the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen Campus.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, announced that the Council of Legal Education (CLE) of the West Indies will hold its annual general meeting in Guyana this week.
According to Nandlall, the meeting will begin on Thursday, September 3, and end on Saturday. He said the gathering will bring together regional legal education officials, including principals and administrators of the region’s law schools, heads of judiciaries from CARICOM member states, and representatives of bar associations across the Caribbean.
As part of the meeting, a sod-turning ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday at the proposed site of Guyana’s law school at the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen Campus.
Nandlall said the new institution is expected to become the Council of Legal Education’s newest law school.
Members of the Council of Legal Education and invited guests are expected to attend the ceremony, which Nandlall described as the symbolic turning of the sod at the site where the law school is intended to be constructed.
The Attorney General also updated the public on the construction process, saying a tender had been issued for the design of the law school.
He said several bids were received and are currently with the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB). The results will be known when NPTAB opens the bids.
The planned law school is expected to mark a significant development for legal education in Guyana, which has long depended on regional institutions for professional legal training.
The Council of Legal Education currently includes the Hugh Wooding Law School, the Norman Manley Law School and the Eugene Dupuch Law School in The Bahamas.
For nearly three decades, Guyana has tried to establish a law school within its jurisdiction, as law students are forced to attend the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad. However, only the 25 top law students from Guyana are allowed into the programme each year.
Moreover, the high cost of living in Trinidad has deterred many people from pursuing a legal career; in response, the Guyana Government now offers limited fully funded scholarships to Hugh Wooding Law School.
