…President declares as new senior counsel receive instruments of appointment

INSTRUMENTS of Commission appointing four legal minds to the elevated status of Senior Counsel were on Wednesday handed over to Kalam Azad Juman Yassin, Fitz Le Roy Peters, Andrew Mark Fitzgerald Pollard and Josephine Whitehead.

President David Granger in issuing the instruments congratulated the attorneys whom he said have served Guyana well in the legal fraternity over the years. He described the title senior counsel as “a status of pride and prestige in our legal profession and in our tradition” and likened it to symbols of nationhood.

He said such a prestigious status stands alongside Guyana’s system of national honour and pointed to the national anthem, coat of arms, flag and motto which all define our Guyanese identity. “The title is a professional symbol which distinguishes attorneys for their erudition, their experience, eminence and excellence. The title is a social symbol representing the values of duty and integrity and the standard of social responsibility and respect for the law,” said the head of state.

This is the second year since taking office that President Granger has appointed senior counsel. Last year nine attorneys were elevated to senior counsel. Among them were Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams S.C., Justice Alison Roxane McLean George-Wiltshire, Rosalie Althea Robertson and Clifton Mortimer Llewelyn John.
He told a gathering of senior legal professionals seated at the Baridi Benab, State House, that the service provided by those appointed senior counsel is worthy of emulation and can serve as an encouragement for juniors in the profession to strive for the highest standards. “Guyanese have distinguished themselves in Anglophone jurisdictions around the world, in our sister states of the Caribbean and in the Caribbean Court of Justice,” the President said, while noting that the ceremony is an “important personal obligation”.

“I am a trustee of tradition which sustains society and I feel duty-bound to recognise those who have served with distinction and I do so now. It is my obligation, not an option; it is my duty to respect our national system of honours. Failure to confer these awards whether the result of caprice or malice would constitute a dereliction of duty and disdain for an honoured tradition,” the President added while committing to conferring such honours annually.

“I shall therefore with regularity, respect, recognise and reward deserving attorneys and legal officers by conferring these honours every year. This is the customs of our people. This is the convention of good governance; this is the culture of a good society,” he told the gathering just before a luncheon held in honour of the newly appointed senior counsel.
The new senior counsel all possess a wealth of experience in the legal field and have contributed to the field significantly over the years. Kalam Azad Juman Yassin was called to the English Bar in November 1970 and admitted to the bar in Guyana in January 1971. He was recognised for his service as a trial lawyer in both the civil and criminal courts, and as a magistrate and chief magistrate in Guyana.

Attorney-at-law Fitz Leroy Peters was admitted to the bar in November 1981 and was recognised for his service as a state counsel, principal legal advisor, deputy solicitor general and as a legal practitioner for the past 19 years.

Similarly, Andrew Mark Fitzgerald Pollard who was admitted to the bar in October 1987 was recognised for his service as a legal practitioner in the areas of civil litigation, administrative law and copy right and intellectual property law for the past 30 years. For her work with the Guyana Legal Aid Clinic and her distinguished service as an attorney-at-law, Josephine Whitehead was recognised. Whitehead was admitted to the bar in Guyana in 1979 and was called to the English bar in 1983. She has served as an attorney and solicitor for the past 38 years.

In January 2017, after a 20-year hiatus, President Granger elevated nine legal luminaries to the status of senior counsel and has since pledged to ensure that these honours are conferred annually. The new Senior Counsel has been appointed effective January 1, 2018. Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Roxanne George-Wiltshire Acting Chief Justice, Ministers of Public Security, State, Legal Affairs and Natural Resources, Khemraj Ramjattan, Joseph Harmon, Basil Williams, S.C, and Raphael Trotman, as well as Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack were among those present at the simple but significant ceremony.