Antigua and Barbuda looking to establish law school

ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC):
Antigua and Barbuda is considering establishing a law school and will conduct a feasibility study towards that end, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Steadroy Benjamin has said.

He said the issue was discussed at the Executive Council meeting of the Legal Education (CLE) when it met in Jamaica last weekend.

“We will be retaining the services of a specialist in this area to conduct a study to show how many persons there are in the region who wish to be educated and are unable to find places because the law schools are overwhelmed,” he said.

PHOTO: Steadroy Benjamin

Benjamin said Guyana is in the process of undertaking a similar study.

“There are several experts, I have spoken to three of them so far, I am going to speak to two more, take it before the Cabinet and we will make a decision then,” he added.

Earlier this month, Guyana signed an agreement with the University College of the Caribbean (UCC) and the Law College of the Americas (LCA) as it moved to establish its own law school and ease the difficulties being experienced by Guyanese students wishing to attend the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago.

Attorney General Basil Williams said the establishment of the Law School will ensure that local law students no longer have to worry about gaining acceptance to continue their legal education at the Trinidad-based facility.

“We have hundreds of LLB holders and graduates who cannot enter into the Norman Manley (Jamaica) or Hugh Wooding Law Schools, not to even mention Eugene Dupuch in Bahamas because it’s so expensive. And therefore it is very important that this question be addressed and so we are happy”, Williams said.

Only the top 25 law students from the University of Guyana (UG) are allowed to complete their Certificate in Legal Education studies at the Hugh Wooding Law School, and Williams said the CLE has given Guyana permission to establish a local law school two decades ago.