ATTORNEY-AT-LAW Khemraj Ramjattan was re-elected president of the Guyana Bar Association on May 31, last, at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the Supreme Court Building, Georgetown.
The forum heard presentations of the President’s, Secretary’s, and Treasurer’s Reports; and also elected office bearers of the Bar Council for the ensuing year.
One statement emanating from the Annual General Meeting was that even though the Bar Association remains viable, there is need for private lawyers to become involved with the work of the Association.
The AGM, which attracted some 30 legal practitioners, noted that over the past year, about 25 lawyers were trained as Mediators and that the Bar Association provided continuing legal education for lawyers.
The education programme included a course in Legal Drafting for Democratic Social Change run by the University of Boston and two seminars on the techniques of Cross-Examination and Advocacy conducted by Attorney-at-Law Vic Puran and Queen’s Counsel David Ross of Australia, respectively.
The AGM was told that the Bar Council met with several organisations and interest groups and participated in the meeting of the Caribbean Council for Legal Education in Barbados at which meeting the Council agreed in principle to the establishment of a Law School in Guyana. Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, prior to his re-election, described the past year as challenging for the Association and noted that the Association spoke out on several issues but discretion and care had to be exercised in this regard.
He called on lawyers to exercise similar discretion in selecting issues to which they would add their voice but encouraged that lawyers as well as the Bar Association must remain fearless in speaking out on issues of social consequences on protecting the Rule of Law.
The Office bearers for the ensuing year are: President, Khemraj Ramjattan; Vice Presidents, Joseph Harmon and Sheila Chapman; Secretary, Emily Dodson; Treasurer, Kashir Khan; Assistant Secretary, Toni Housty; and Committee members: Abiola Wong, Llewellyn John, Narendra Singh, Priya Manickchand, and newcomers, Rosemarie Choo-She-Nam and Leslie Sobers.