Adrian Frater, News Editor
MORGAN
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE CORNWALL Bar Association (CBA) is objecting to two of the provisions in the bill to amend the Legal Profession Act, which is to be tabled in Parliament soon.
In a statement released on Monday, the CBA, which comprises lawyers serving in the county of Cornwall, said it fundamentally disagreed with the aspects of the provision dealing with continuing legal education and intervention by the General Legal Council into the practice of attorneys.
"It is not that we are in total disagreement with the bill or want to kill it," said prominent attorney Clayton Morgan, a member of the CBA executive. "We just want it restructured because if it should it be ratified by parliament, it would fundamentally change the manner in which attorneys in Jamaica practice law in the future.
With regards to the provision concerning continuing legal education, which will see attorneys practising certificate tied to this process, the CBA said the bill was to have reflected the consensus of several discussions by the various Bar Associations of Jamaica, which questioned the proposed format.
If that law comes into being as is, it will mean that all attorneys must undergo a course in continuing legal education, regardless of how many years you have served the provision, before they are granted a practising certificate, which is renewable each year said Mr. Morgan. Previously, the only condition attached to get your certificate was for you to pay your annual fee.
On the matter of intervention by the General Legal Council, the CBA said it totally disagreed with the stipulating in the manner it is to be tabled in parliament, noting that it would allow the council to take action against an attorney without an order from a judge in the Supreme Court.
During the debates preceding the drafting of the bill, there was a consensus that intervention should only take place upon the order of a judge of the Supreme Court in chamber following upon the application of the General Legal Council, the CBA stated.
