Dear Editor
We have seen where institutions in our country operate as though they are legal and are found out later to be in contravention of the laws and constitution of the country. This, as no one bothers to check to ensure that they operate within the law.
So I ask: is the General Legal Counsel (GLC) a law-enforcement agency entrenched in our constitution with similar powers of arrest/prosecution akin to the Jamaica Constabulary Force or the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions?
The GLC regulates, registers and establishes codes of practice for lawyers, and also investigates complaints against lawyers.
As I see it, the GLC is its own judge and jury dispensing its own brand of justice to its members.
There are cases on record where attorneys accused of fraud and other ethical misconduct — a prima facie case is established — are disciplined by the GLC. Punishment has ranged from being suspended to being disbarred from practising law in Jamaica. These lawyers have not gone through the legal process nor have they been charged by the police as an ordinary citizen would.
In a properly run society such matters would have been turned over to the police and appropriate charges laid.
In my view, the GLC's role is simply to protect the image of the legal profession. This is clearly its mandate. But it should not be to shield attorneys from facing prosecution.
This protection the GLC offers attorneys has now got out of hand. The unsuspecting public does not or will never know the record of these attorneys who were disciplined unless they ask the GLC.
We cannot have one set of rules for attorneys and another set for the rest of us. We need the authorities to correct this wrong. By law, any report of misconduct about a lawyer that is reported to the GLC must, in turn, be reported to the police to see if the complaint warrants police prosecution. Surely if this is done, over time we are likely to see less fraud committed by attorneys.
Authnel Reid
authnelreid@optoline.net
Don't shield errant lawyers, GLC
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We have seen where institutions in our country operate as though they are legal and are found out later to be in contravention of the laws and constitution of the country. This, as no one bothers to check to ensure that they operate within the law.
So I ask: is the General Legal Counsel (GLC) a law-enforcement agency entrenched in our constitution with similar powers of arrest/prosecution akin to the Jamaica Constabulary Force or the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions?
The GLC regulates, registers and establishes codes of practice for lawyers, and also investigates complaints against lawyers.
As I see it, the GLC is its own judge and jury dispensing its own brand of justice to its members.
There are cases on record where attorneys accused of fraud and other ethical misconduct — a prima facie case is established — are disciplined by the GLC. Punishment has ranged from being suspended to being disbarred from practising law in Jamaica. These lawyers have not gone through the legal process nor have they been charged by the police as an ordinary citizen would.
In a properly run society such matters would have been turned over to the police and appropriate charges laid.
In my view, the GLC's role is simply to protect the image of the legal profession. This is clearly its mandate. But it should not be to shield attorneys from facing prosecution.
This protection the GLC offers attorneys has now got out of hand. The unsuspecting public does not or will never know the record of these attorneys who were disciplined unless they ask the GLC.
We cannot have one set of rules for attorneys and another set for the rest of us. We need the authorities to correct this wrong. By law, any report of misconduct about a lawyer that is reported to the GLC must, in turn, be reported to the police to see if the complaint warrants police prosecution. Surely if this is done, over time we are likely to see less fraud committed by attorneys.
Authnel Reid
authnelreid@optoline.net
Don't shield errant lawyers, GLC
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