Approval granted for Guyana’s first law school – President Ali announces

President Dr. Irfaan Ali on Sunday morning announced the long-awaited approval for the establishment of a Law School in Guyana.

“Based on recent approval granted by the Council for Legal Education, we will commence work immediately on the establishment of Guyana’s very own law school,” President Ali announced to thousands of people who gathered on the lawns of State House in Georgetown to witness his swearing-in ceremony.

President Ali said the Law School will enable hundreds of persons to qualify as attorneys at law and have full rights to practice in CARICOM countries.

Guyana has been waiting for approval for years from the Council of Legal Education of the West Indies (CLE) to establish the country’s first law school. The CLE had previously authorised Guyana to conduct a feasibility study and other groundwork.

Some five acres of land were identified at Turkeyen, next to the University of Guyana, for the construction of the law school.

The initiative was revived by the PPP/C administration in 2020 after a previous feasibility study revealed gaps in the earlier model. Under the revised approach, the Government of Guyana will provide the land and infrastructure, while the CLE will manage the institution and its students.

Currently, Guyana is limited to just 25 placements annually at the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago, while hundreds of law graduates from Trinidad and Jamaica gain entry to regional institutions each year.

The CLE, which governs legal professional education in the Caribbean, currently manages the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago, Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica, and Eugene Dupuch Law School in the Bahamas. Guyana’s institution will join this network, providing a long-overdue solution for aspiring attorneys who have faced barriers to advancing their studies.

Meanwhile, President Ali further announced that within the next six weeks, the new government will offer medical and engineering education in Regions Two, Three, Six and Nine.

“These skill types are in high demand and will ensure that these regions will be in the position to deliver education in every field of the College of Medicine and the University Faculty of Engineering,” the President said.