A reader wrote in a complaint against a lawyer (“No representation from Attorney”, Guyana Chronicle 18 May, 2009).

The reader must be commended for seeking redress and bringing this to the public’s attention. Hopefully, things will work out for him and there will be a mutually satisfactory outcome to the reported problem.

I’m writing though to express my disappointment over your “editor’s note” which advised the reader to bring the complaint to the attention of the Guyana Bar Association.

While you may be well-meaning, my feeling is that going to the Association is a waste of time. I don’t know much about the association in Guyana but it is probably the same as the one in Barbados. The Bar association is an umbrella group for lawyers. It is like a company trade union to protect its members. It is like a social club. My experience with the Bar association in Barbados (all lawyers’ group are basically the same) is that it is just that: a self serving protective body and a social club.

The lawyers’ body has a Complaints Commission, or whatever it is called. It is composed of lawyers. What you have is lawyers investigating lawyers. How can they be objective? How can they give a just ruling when one of their own is brought before it for investigations? They can’t. How many lawyers have we heard about being censored or taken off the rolls? The answer is very few. I am not saying all lawyers are crooks. There are many good ones. But as with other professions, the public has a proper objective way to seek redress against those who cheat and rob them.

Such complaints bodies have to be made up of independent persons with an objective and impartial mindset. This is done in some other countries and is successful. The operations of lawyers and the public’s interest will be best served by such a transparent and just system.

Your newspaper should do an investigative feature on how this so called Complaints Commission in the Bar Association operates.
JOHN REED
Barbados