President David Granger, today, presented four distinguished, long-serving legal practitioners with their instruments of commission, elevating them to Senior Counsel.
“I congratulate the attorneys-at-law who, today, have received instruments of commission appointing them as Senior Counsel – a status of pride and prestige within our legal profession and tradition. The title is: a national symbol, alongside other symbols – national honours and awards, anthem, coat of arms, flag and motto – that define our Guyanese identity; a professional symbol that distinguishes attorneys of erudition, experience, eminence and excellence; a social symbol representing the values of duty and integrity and the standards of social responsibility and respect for the law,” President Granger said.
Noting that the award of the honour of Senior Counsel recognises those whose service in the legal profession has evinced these values and standards, the President said that the simple but significant ceremony constitutes, as President of Guyana, an important personal obligation. Guyana, today, acknowledges their exertions during their long legal careers and applauds their accomplishments at the bar, he said.
In January 2017, after a 20-year hiatus, President Granger elevated nine attorneys-at-law to the status of Senior Counsel and has since pledged to ensure that these honours are conferred annually.
Among those who were officially appointed then were the first three women to ever be elevated to that distinguished status: Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire, Justice Claudette Singh and Ms Rosalie Robertson.
Attorney General, Basil Williams, Neil Aubrey Boston, Charles Fung-A-Fat, Clifton Llewelyn John, Rafiq Khan and Vidyanand Persaud were the other legal practitioners to receive the honour.
