Dear Editor,
THE recent public dressing down, for that is what it is, of attorney Anil Nandlall by the learned Madame Chief Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire has again exposed the politically-dishonest motives of this chief legal representative of the PPP/C, and the lengths to which some practitioners of this profession would go to misrepresent dubious ends for totally unjustifiable purposes.
In re-stating this fact, one may refer to “Another desperate PPP/C attempt at legal distortion and dishonesty”, Guyana Chronicle, May 26, 2020. The following two paragraphs are here quoted in the reiterating of this undeniable fact.
“Editor, it is said that law is a noble profession, and for many reasons, because of its seemingly complex learning which regulates and pertains to all aspects of our lives, represented by men/women who are sworn to uphold its lofty tenets. But inherent in its practice is the fact that it reveals the dark side of humans. One supposes that this description pertains to those whose various acts of offences have been brought to light. But it is also fair to say that one must examine those who are its practitioners, and what they do, in terms of using its just dictums for totally dishonest ends.”
And this has been the local experience within recent times in matters of a political nature, where many of its retained legal practitioners, for the dangerously narrow ends of vested-interest politics and other blandishments have sought to misrepresent its many clauses for anti-national ends that have not been a blessing or a boon to the profession, its advancement, or to the wider society that has been pushed to the precipice of political stress. It is not for the latter to be repeated here, since the many examples have been graphically publicised during related matters before the nation’s court.
“This applies to the Nandlalls of this country…”
It was quite clear why Nandlall, acting for and behalf of the PPP/C, filed contempt of court proceedings against GECOM at that extant time; to forestall the official declaration of the final electoral results for the second time. What had been very revealing about the March 14 declaration was that Mr. Mingo executed in detail what had been instructed by the Chief Justice, a fact later reiterated by a senior judge of the High Court. Therefore, from a layman’s view, Mingo had been wrongly cited.
But here again, mischief had been afoot, clearly exposed by the Chief Justice, if one were to read into her comments, which, of course, would have respected the line drawn between the separation of powers.
Nandlall’s actions, from a layman’s perspective, have been patently dishonest, and reminds one of a parallel reference that recall the case of a certain London-based barrister-at-law who had been appointed as Court of Appeal Judge during the Donald Ramotar regime, after which it was reported that he had been cited for giving a London client false expectation of success in an appeal matter. Of course, on receipt of such information, he was dismissed, forthwith, by the then Chancellor.
So here again is Nandlall being caught misleading the Court, proffering highly dubious evidence for purely political ends, wasting the Court’s time and taxpayers’ money.
Though one holds that attorneys are morally bound to get the best that can be had for whatever client is represented, such actions, as perpetrated by Nandlall, will not lend to improved legal advocacy at the Bar. At best, it’s a continuous display of both legal deception and dishonesty which continues to degrade the local bar, especially those who also, for narrow ends, would have supported what is truly a legal hoax. In any other jurisdiction, apart from the legal penalty, he would have been severely censured, given the serious nature of the allegation.
Regards,
Carla Mendonca
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_06_15_2020