–ceremony to take place on sidelines of Council of Legal Education’s 57th annual general meeting in Guyana

THE sod is expected to be turned today at the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen campus to mark the site of Guyana’s proposed law school, a development expected to further expand the country’s capacity for legal education.
This was disclosed by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, during his weekly show Issues in the News during which he stated that the ceremony will take place on the sidelines of the 57th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Council of Legal Education (CLE), which is being hosted in Guyana from today until Saturday.
According to Nandlall, members of the Council, along with invited guests, will attend the symbolic sod-turning at the site where the institution is expected to be constructed.
The CLE’s 57th AGM is bringing together senior representatives from across the Caribbean, including principals and administrators of the region’s law schools, heads of judiciaries of CARICOM member states and representatives of regional bar associations.
Nandlall said that the Council comprises the leadership of the region’s three existing law schools, the Hugh Wooding Law School, the Norman Manley Law School and the Eugene Dupuch Law School in The Bahamas, along with representatives of the Caribbean judiciary and bar associations.
The proposed law school at UG Turkeyen represents the Council’s newest law school and is expected to add Guyana to the network of institutions providing professional legal education in the region.
Nandlall disclosed that the project has already advanced to the procurement stage, with a tender issued for the design and construction of the facility.
Several bids have been received and are currently before the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB). The Attorney General said the outcome will be known once the bids are opened and the procurement process advances.
The sod-turning, as such, will mark an important step towards the physical development of the institution, even as regional legal education leaders gather in Guyana for their annual meeting.
The CLE AGM, which begins today and concludes on Saturday, provides the regional setting for the ceremony, with senior figures from the Caribbean’s legal education, judicial and professional communities expected to be present.
The CLE granted formal approval in late 2025 for the establishment of the law school and as such, work commenced immediately.
The establishment of a law school here has been a topic of discussion over the years, as students have complained bitterly about the limited number of annual intakes and high tuition and living expenses associated with completing their studies abroad.
The establishment of a law school in Guyana will address these issues along with the growing demand for legal education in Guyana and other parts of the regions.
As it is currently, Guyanese students looking to complete their legal education and acquire their Legal Education Certificate (LEC) to practise law must enroll in one of the three regional law schools in the Caribbean: Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, or The Bahamas.