Guyana begins conversation on continuing legal education, stronger regulation of lawyers, judges

Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 January 2026, 23:00 by Writer

Guyana is taking steps to tighten regulation of the legal profession and introduce a system of continuing education, top officials said on Tuesday.

“We need a system of rigid and accountable continuing education,” Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall told the opening of the Criminal Assizes and the 2026 Law Year.

Mr Nandlall said he planned to meet the President of the Guyana Bar Association (GBA), Kamal Ramkarran later this month on “refashioning” the regulatory framework of the legal profession in light of public complaints. “We need strong disciplinary processes that must be activated to treat with serious allegations of misconduct, negligence and dishonesty,” Mr Ramkarran said.

For his part, Mr Ramkarran expressed concerns about the state of regulation of the profession including the absence of continuing education. “There is no system of continuing legal education at the Bar among lawyers. If a lawyer never wanted to read another law book or judgment after law school, it would be completely open for that lawyer to do so,” he said.

He also recommended a process of “graduated” induction into the legal profession rather than burdening junior counsel just out of law school.

Chancellor of the Judiciary, Roxane George-Wiltshire, in her address, recommended that the Legal Practitioners Act, which dates back to 1897 and was last amended in 2010, be further amended to provide for the annual registration of all lawyers “based on minimum hours of continuing legal education”.

“An educated and regulated legal profession will increase the efficiency and integrity of the administration of justice,” she added.

She highlighted the importance of a more accountable Bar with a “better system” for the regulation and disciplining of attorneys-at-law.

The Chancellor said the judiciary was willing to collaborate with the Attorney General and the Bar in crafting legislative and procedural reforms.

Chief Justice Navindra Singh expressed satisfaction that Mr Ramkarran and Mr Nandlall recognised the need for continuing education.

Mr Singh recalled ten years ago drafting a legal continuing education bill and approaching the Attorney General but that was resisted “by the Bar generally.” “I’m glad that they now recognise that continuing legal education is not for us. It is for all. It is for the judges and the lawyers and it is for the litigants to enjoy proper representation,” he said.

The Attorney General did not close the door to lawyers self-regulating their practice. “To remain self-regulatory, you have to remain responsible and you have to remain accountable,” Mr Nandlall said.

He said the framework governing the functions, rights and responsibilities of the legal profession since independence in 1966, something that he promised, would not be allowed to continue.

Mr Ramkarran said the procedure for disciplining lawyers is cumbersome.

In issuing a call for a strong disciplinary system, he said no lawyer has ever been the subject of proceedings for suspension or removal from the court rolls in well over 25 years and perhaps much longer, and similarly that was the case for judges.

“If we are to be held accountable, there must be open and transparent systems to deal with misbehaviour of judges and lawyers in a proper and fair manner. Systems must ensure that the highest professional standards are met by judges and lawyers and, if not, consequences should flow,” he said.

The GBA President said lawyers need to be held accountable while ironically there are complaints that cases were taking too long to complete due to unprepared lawyers who also seek adjournments.