In the third instalment of its Eminent Caribbean Jurist series, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Academy of Law has honoured eight Guyanese among 48 outstanding Caribbean lawyers.
They are Professor JOF Haynes, Rex McKay, Ashton Chase, OE; Dr Mohamed Shahabuddeen; Sir Lionel Alfred Luckhoo; Sir Fenton Ramsahoye; Clarence Hughes, and Dr Claude Denbow.
The only ones still living are McKay and Denbow.
Among the awardees are giants of the legal profession representing historical, transitional, and contemporary epochs of law and development in the Region, the Academy said.
The Eminent Caribbean Jurist Awards Series was established by the Academy, the CCJ’s educational branch, in 2019 as a way to recognise and honour the contributions made by Caribbean jurists to the advancement of the legal system and society.
The Academy said the legal legends were selected by the CCJ Academy-appointed Regional Selection and Advisory Committee, which first met on September 27, 2022.
“Nominations were submitted from Bar Associations, Judiciaries, journalists, the Council for Legal Education and its law schools, other law schools in the Region, professional associations, and former Eminent Caribbean Jurists. One hundred and fifteen (nominations were received from which 48 were selected having regard to regional and temporal distribution.”
As part of the project, it said a brief profile was prepared for each honouree by specially selected essayists and that the profiles will be compiled into a publication to memorialise the contribution of these outstanding legal practitioners to the development of law in the Region. The Academy anticipates that the publication will be launched and available to the public in January 2024.
As with the Academy’s previous publications, it is hoped that highlighting the lives and work of these Caribbean legal personalities will inspire the younger generation of practitioners.
