FORMER Attorney General Sir Fenton Ramsahoye passed away in Barbados early Thursday morning and the legal fraternity here and in the Caribbean hailed his scholarship and his selfless service to the profession which he held dearly.

Sir Fenton, who was 89, died early Thursday at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados. As a senior counsel, Sir Fenton served for over twenty years in Antigua and Barbuda. He studied at London University where he was awarded a B.A. Degree in 1949 and LL.B and LL.M Degrees in 1953 and 1956. He was called to the bar at Lincoln’s Inn on the 10 February 1953 and was awarded a PhD in Comparative Land Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1959.

Ramsahoye was at the forefront of the independence movement. In 1961, he was elected a Member of Parliament of Guyana and remained in parliament until 1973. He was Attorney General of Guyana from 1961 to 1964 and a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Guyana from 1962 to 1964. As of 2006, he held the record for making the most appearances before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the Caribbean.

Ramsahoye was appointed Senior Counsel in Guyana in 1971. From 1972 to 1975 he was Deputy Director of Legal Education for the Council of Legal Education in the West Indies and head of the Hugh Wooding Law School as a professor.

Ramsahoye was a Queen’s Counsel and a member of the bars of England and Wales, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, the Territories of the Eastern Caribbean including Montserrat, and the British Virgin Islands. Ramsahoye was knighted in 2006 by Governor General Sir James Carlisle during a ceremony at Government House in Antigua. Ramsahoye married Phyllis Gwendolyn Lutz, the daughter of Richard Benjamin Lutz of South Australia.

Great legal legend
Meanwhile, in a statement, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack, said it is with great sadness that she learnt of the passing of Sir Fenton Ramsahoye, SC. “He was a great legal legend of Guyana, the region and the Commonwealth. He served selflessly throughout the Commonwealth Caribbean region, particularly at the Privy Council and the Caribbean Court of Justice,” Ali-Hack said. According to the DPP, Sir Fenton distinguished himself academically and subsequently in his practice at the Bar, especially at the final Courts of Appeal for the region–The Privy Council and the Caribbean Court of Justice.

“While doing so he also served his native country as its first local attorney general with distinction. So distinguished was his service that he was knighted by the Head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth,” the DPP mentioned.

According to the DPP “Though we knew he was not well, his passing nevertheless still came as a shock to us because we have always wished for him good health. This may be so because of our close relationship with him and how much we learnt from him. He appeared for the State of Guyana in many criminal appeals at the Caribbean Court of Justice, the most recent being the case of Mark Royden Williams and James Anthony Hyles; a case popularly referred to as the Lusignan Massacre case.”

The DPP said the legal community, especially in the Caribbean Commonwealth region has lost a human encyclopedia where legal matters are concerned, be it criminal, civil or constitutional. “He was a bottomless well when it came to the law which he expounded from his memory, including the history of the law. Despite being well versed in many areas of the law, he was always willing to learn about new aspects. I saw this with him with the introduction of modern anti- money laundering law,” the DPP noted.

Additionally, the DPP said Sir Fenton had a command of the understanding of the law and applied it with diligence, astute finesse and integrity. “The passing of Sir Fenton and the likes of him signals the death of an era of legal personalities which once frequented the rooms and halls of our courts. This in itself adds to the grief which we feel at this inevitable occasion. He must be remembered for his bravery and ability to speak the truth fearlessly.

He was from a great Guyanese family who each distinguished themselves in different aspects of scholarship: law, medicine, engineering. Our heartfelt sympathies are extended to his dearly beloved bereaved family and his office staff, especially Suzette and Sunil with whom we worked very closely over the years.”

Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, expressed sorrow at the death of Sir Fenton who was made a Knight of the Order of the Nation in that country in 2006. “One of our distinguished Knights has fallen, and we in Antigua and Barbuda join his family, friends and admirers throughout the Caribbean in mourning his passing.”

Browne recalled the distinguished legal career of Sir Fenton, who was born in Guyana and served as that country’s attorney-general in the colonial period before serving as Professor at the Hugh Wooding Law School, and representing Caribbean governments, private individuals and companies before the Privy Council and the Caribbean Court of Justice.

“Sir Fenton will be remembered with respect and admiration by a generation of Caribbean attorneys who benefitted from his knowledge and willingness to share it”. “He was an erudite scholar of the law and defended his clients with unfailing commitment”, the prime minister declared.

Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall said: “a legal giant has fallen.” Nandlall said Dr Ramsahoye was one of the most distinguished lawyers produced by this nation and indeed ever to have emerged from the West Indies. “He practised widely throughout the Caribbean and appeared in the most cases before the Privy Council than any lawyer of his time. I was privileged to have been the recipient of his sagacious counsel on many occasions. Much more will be written and said of Sir Fenton over the next few days and weeks. My sincere condolences go out to Lady Ramsahoye, his children and relatives,” Nandlall ended.