Dear Editor,
IT IS time that the people of Guyana, who claim to be living according to modern society principles, understand the role of the legal profession. I am forced to make this comment as a result of gossips that came to my ear concerning the legal representation of a prominent ex-PPP/C Minister. I was asked whose side Mr. Rex Mc Kay, SC, CCH is on; one time he is representing the Government side, and now he is representing the other side.

The mere thought of this enquiry is, to me, very disgusting, and it has demonstrated that there is a lack of understanding of what a lawyer’s role is in society. I say so to emphasise the fact that the main purpose of a lawyer is to ensure justice is done. This is the primary role of a lawyer. In order for society to function properly, we, as members of society, have had to delegate responsibility to an organization, such as Parliament, which is responsible to supervise the overall running of the various sectors of society.

The Judiciary has a very important part to play, and in criminal matters, any person charged with an offence and brought before a court of justice is presumed “innocent until proven guilty”, so it is the person bringing the particular action who has to produce the evidence to establish the guilt of the person charged.

Here is where the lawyer comes in. His duty is to ensure that in the presentation of the case against an accused person, the legal rules are observed. If the legal rules are not observed, then there would be an unfair trial, and justice will not be done.

So a lawyer’s main duty is to ensure that the case is presented fairly. It does not matter if it is murder or any other wrongdoing, a person can be convicted only if the evidence available is properly presented in court.

That is exactly what Mr. Rex Mc Kay and his team are doing. Therefore, it does not mean that because he is representing a particular client, he is in agreement with what is alleged against her. All he wants is to see that justice prevails.

A lot of people feel that a lawyer is a good lawyer only when he wins a case for his client; but the most important factor in legal representation is to ensure that justice is done. So even if a lawyer loses a case because his client has been found guilty, once the case was fairly tried, he has ‘won’, because justice has prevailed. If one looks at the other side of things, where a rich person is charged with an offence and he uses his wealth to ensure that the evidence against him is not properly presented, he is as a result set free. Any properly thinking person in society would frown upon the fact that a rich man has been set free for an offence that everyone knows he committed. This is ‘injustice’, and this is what lawyers are there to prevent.

Lawyers are part of our social network, and their main duty is to ensure that justice is done, not to ensure that people with money can escape punishment for the wrong things they have done. This rule applies to both criminal and civil matters. In civil matters, the primary function of the lawyer is to try and resolve the matter in dispute between the parties. On failure to resolve, the matter is taken to court, where a third person, the judge, listens to both sides then makes a decision.

Basically, once the matter is before him, a judge has the right to listen to both sides; he is obligated to hear that case. However, I find these days that sometimes efforts are made by some lawyers to have a matter dismissed because the procedure for bringing the action is incorrect.

Basically, under the British Legal System, which is what all our law is based on, judges are appointed to hear and determine issues brought before them, not to determine whether or not the correct procedure was used to bring a matter before them.

Justice is the important word in all legal matters, and that is why judges are called Justice and Chief Justice in the High Court.

Regards
JONAS M.F. CODDETT