— Attorney-General

FORMER Chancellor of the Judiciary, the late Justice Keith Massiah, S.C, O.R, was hailed as ranking among Guyana’s greatest jurists and “will hold his own against any in Her Majesty’s Commonwealth”.

Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C., made these remarks on Friday during a Special Full Court Sitting to pay tribute to the memory of the late Justice Keith Massiah S.C, O.R.

Justice Massiah passed away on April 24, 2020 at the age of 93, following a period of illness. During his lifetime, he held the pinnacle judicial office of Chancellor of the Judiciary from 1984 to1988, and then as the country’s Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs from 1988 to1992.

After retirement from public office, Justice Massiah became a distinguished Professor of Law in the Department of Law at the University of Guyana, and for some time, its Head of Department.

He was awarded the Order of Roraima (O.R), in recognition of service of an exceptionally high quality and beyond the normal call of duty in the administration of Justice and in the field of law.

“Whichever is the area of law upon which Justice Massiah had the occasion to expatiate, his judgements remain a comprehensive treatment of the relevant legal issues, most times expanding way beyond, giving the reader an intellectual insight into the evolutionary and historical metamorphosis of the legal issues, tracing them to their current state,” Nandlall said.

The Attorney-General, during his presentation, cited a number of cases adjudicated upon by the former chancellor. He noted the particular linguistic fashion and poetic flamboyance Justice Massiah adopted in the deliverance in his judgements, which were scrupulous.

“Another distinguishing feature of Justice Massiah’s judicial career is that there is no area of the law where one senses any discernable weakness or deficit. A cursory examination of his judgements span all branches of the law, whether it be constitutional or public law, criminal law or the various facets of civil law,” Nandlall highlighted.

Nandlall, who was a student of Justice Massiah, noted that to date he consults with worksheets prepared by Massiah for guidance. “Dozens of attorneys-at-law, including magistrates and judges would have benefitted from his legal scholarship as their lecturer,” he said.

He highlighted that one of his very own most memorable cases was one against Justice Massiah. He noted that he was a newly admitted attorney at the time, and upon judgment being granted in his favour, he professed all credit to Massiah, who lectured him on the very concepts which were the subject of the case.
“The vacuum left by the departure of Keith Stanislaus Massiah S.C, O.R, may not ever be filled, at least not in my lifetime,” Nandlall said.