By Tamica Garnett

ON the verge of wrapping up his final days of a nine-month programme at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), St Stanislaus College alum, and young lawyer Joshua Benn is looking forward to returning to Guyana and applying what he has learnt towards the development of his country.

A legal officer with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) since 2018, last year Benn was accepted in the annual ITLOS-Nippon Foundation Capacity-Building and Training Programme, which runs from July – March; the first Guyanese to have been accepted into the programme which takes place at the ITLOS in Hamburg, Germany.

Initially doubtful of his ability to be admitted, being part of the programme was a lesson for the 29-year-old in overcoming self-doubt.

“I doubted that I would have been accepted. I was like, I don’t even have a masters, why would they choose me over individuals who might be more qualified. But Guyanese are smart people and it’s important to believe in yourself,” Benn shares.

Benn is glad he still took the chance and applied, is proud of having been accepted, and hopes his story emboldens other Guyanese to follow suit.

“It was a very competitive selection process that had over 100 applicants, only seven, including myself, were successful. I’m humbled that I was able to represent Guyana, and provide an opportunity for other Guyanese to become aware of the programme and hopefully apply and benefit from it,” Benn shared.

A programme that includes several aspects of training on international law, particularly those specific to international law of the sea and maritime, Benn hopes to be an asset to his country, particularly as the country continues to develop as an oil and gas nation.

“The knowledge I’ve attained can be used to help Guyana ensure that its rights are respected and preserved,” Benn said.

Open to junior to mid-level government officials and researchers, the training programme provides successful applicants with an opportunity to develop their legal skills and knowledge on dispute settlement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The convention speaks to the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world’s oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources.

As part of his application, Benn had to submit a research topic, choosing to study “Jurisdiction over Mixed Disputes: A Possibility for ITLOS and Annex VII Tribunals,” which includes examining the awards in the arbitration regarding the “Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Guyana and Suriname” which was decided using UNCLOS. He is expected to present his research to the Judges of ITLOS on March 17.

The capacity-building programme consists of four main pillars: lectures, training, study visits, and research.

As part of the training Benn also participated in a four-week Summer Academy, from August – September 2019, that was hosted by the International Foundation for the Law of the Sea. He also benefited from three online courses via the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

But the undertaking was not without its sacrifices for Benn. It meant being in a new environment, and being away from his family and his wife; nonetheless, encouraged by them, Benn decided to go for it.

“I had only been married for little over a year when I left, so it was very difficult for my wife and I, but I wanted to buttress my knowledge in the area, and in Guyana we have little avenue for such. So after discussing with my wife, I took the offer,” Benn related.

For his wife Shenel it was a never a question that she was going to be supporting her husband in the furtherance of his studies.

“When I found out of his successful application I was excited, proud and super supportive. I knew I’d have to make sacrifices and as such, I rose to the occasion,” shared Shenel.

Joshua is scheduled to leave Germany to return to Guyana on the 26 March, where his wife Shenel is eagerly awaiting his return.

“I’ve missed him immensely and his arrival is all I long for,” she conveyed.

Notwithstanding being away from his family, the experience opened the door for Benn to experience the culture of Germany, as well as those of the six other participants, and allowed him to share the Guyanese culture as well.

“Guyanese dialect is very much loved and appreciated. Sometimes when I speak, it’s like entertainment for some of my colleagues, they are excited to learn our slangs and idioms,” Benn relayed.

Being a part of the programme is the high point of Benn’s thus far legal career, which is still in its early beginnings, having started in 2017. A legal career being something that both Benn and his parents just knew he was destined for even from a young age.

“He was born a lawyer, he was born with that passion,” expressed Joshua’s father Floyd Benn.

Floyd describes Joshua as a “little disgusting but respectful” child growing up in the five-member family in South Georgetown.

“He was taught freedom of expression, so he has always been passionate about his beliefs and what he has to say. He’s very determined with whatever he put his mind to do and he wanted to become a lawyer,” Floyd shares.

A pastor at the Diamond Life Improvement Centre Assembly of God Church, Floyd said himself and wife, placed a lot of emphasis on ensuring their children were educated.

“Education and Christianity were always two serious parts of their lives, with discipline and order and they worked with that. His mother left her job to ensure they were ready for common Entrance,” he notes.

The Benn siblings understood what was expected of them and took it seriously, Joshua’s sister is a registered nurse, while his brother is an entrepreneur and educator.

During his time in secondary school, Joshua’s drive to become a lawyer was reinforced a matter of proving himself.

“The decisive factor occurred when I was in fourth form and a teacher told me I would never become anything in life. I wanted to prove him wrong, thus I rekindled my dream of becoming a lawyer,” he says.

So it was that in 2012 he began to read for his Bachelor’s of Law at the University of Guyana, where he secured a spot among the top 25 and later earned his Legal Education Certificate at the Hugh Wooding Law School and was admitted to the Bar in 2017.

In 2019 he also attended the Singapore Judicial College, where he completed a training course on International Dispute Resolution.

Now Joshua says he is hopeful of seeing Guyana become a larger player in international law.

“I want to contribute as much as possible to the development of international law in Guyana. It is my hope that just as we now chair the G77, we will end up on the bench of, perhaps, the International Criminal Court, International Court of Justice or the International Tribunal for the law of the Sea, or possibly all,” he says.