IN THE SUPREME COURT OF BELIZE, A.D. 2001

ACTION NO. 453


IN THE MATTER of section 6 of the Legal Profession Act, Chapter 320 of the Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2000


AND


IN THE MATTER of the admission to practise and the enrollment on the Roll as an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of TANYA LONGSWORTH

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BEFORE the Hon. Abdulai Conteh, Chief Justice.


Hon. Godfrey Smith, Attorney General, with Mr. M. C. Young S.C., for Applicant.

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DECISION

  1. This is an application by Ms. Tanya Longsworth in which she has petitioned the Court to be admitted to practice law and be enrolled on the Roll as an Attorney-at-law of the Supreme Court of Belize.

  2. In support of her application Ms. Longsworth has filed an Affidavit dated 7 September 2001. In this Affidavit she deposes among other things, that she is a Belizean citizen and that she graduated in 1995 from the University College of Belize with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Secondary Education specializing in the teaching of English; that between 1995 and 1996 she successfully undertook the Challenge Programme in Law of the University of the West Indies. She was awarded the LLB (Hons) degree by London University in 1999. She further deposes that during the years 1999 and 2000, she attended the Inns of Court School of Law or the City University in London from which she was awarded on 16th June 2000 a Post graduate Diploma in Professional Legal Skills. This, she deposes, was followed by her call to the English Bar on 27 July 2000 by the Society of Lincoln's Inn to which she had been admitted to membership in April1999.

  3. Ms. Longsworth further deposes that from 1st September 2000 to the 15th August 2001 she was employed as Crown Counsel in the office of the Solicitor General in the Attorney General's Ministry.

  4. In a supplemental Affidavit dated 13 September 2001, Ms. Longsworth deposes as to her work as Crown Counsel in the Attorney General's Ministry. She states some of her practical legal experience which includes, among others, her appearance as counsel on behalf of the Crown in a judicial review application and a Board of Assessment under the Land Acquisition (Public Purposes) Act. In both cases she had to cross forensic swords with two of the leading Senior Counsel of the Bar. These two gentlemen, Messrs. Dean Barrow S.C. and Michael Young S.C., have as a token perhaps of their esteem for the applicant's burgeoning legal skills have filed Affidavits attesting to both her good character and skill and suitability to practice law in Belize.

  5. Pertinent to the consideration of this application, however, I think, are the provisions of the Legal Professional Act - Chapter 320 of the Laws of Belize Revised Edition 2000 and the Agreement Establishing the Council of Legal Education, as Amended by a Supplemental Agreement of 12 October 1984.

  6. Belize ratified this Agreement in August 1993.

  7. Admission to practice law and enrolment on the Roll of Attorneys-at-Law are regulated and provided for by the Legal Profession Act. However, there is a necessary and clear nexus between the Act and the Agreement Establishing the Council of Legal Education in so far as a Belizean citizen's admission to practice law is concerned.

  8. Section 6 of the Act states:

A6.-(1) A person who after the commencement of this Act applies to the Supreme Court to be admitted to practise law, and who satisfies the Supreme Court that he -

(1) is a Belizean and holds a Legal Education Certificate; or (emphasis added)

(2) has obtained adequate training in the law and is suitably qualified and competent to practise law in Belize; or

(3) possesses suitable practical experience and competence and is qualified to practise law in any country which the Chief Justice, after consultation with the Council, designates by Order published in the Gazette as having a sufficiently analogous system of law

and is of good character, shall upon compliance with requirements of this Act, and unless that person is exempt therefrom, on payment to the Registrar of the appropriate fee for registration and upon payment to the Bar Association of the annual subscription in respect of membership of that Association, be admitted to practise law and be entered on the Roll by order of the court.

(2) The Chief Justice may prescribe the practice and procedure to be followed in relation to applications under this section and may make regulations as to the requisite qualifications for admission to practise law and enrolment under paragraph (b) of subsection (1).

(3) Nothing in sections 5, 8, 10 and this section shall affect any enactment relating to the placing of restrictions on any person, not being a national of Belize, entering, leaving, residing or working in Belize.@

  1. A Legal Education Certificate@ is defined in section 2(1) of the Act as meaning Athe Certificate issued by the Council of Legal Education established by an Agreement made by the Caribbean Commonwealth countries at Georgetown, Guyana on 25th November 1970.@

  2. It is clear from her Affidavit in support, that though Ms. Longsworth is a Belizean Citizen, she does not hold the Legal Education Certificate.

  3. This certificate is seemingly a sine qua non for admission to practice in the territories of the contracting parties establishing the Council of Legal Education. And Belize is an adhering party to that Agreement. Article 5 of this Agreement provides:

    A1. The Government of each of the participating territories undertakes that it will recognise that any person holding a Legal Education Certificate fulfils the requirements for practice in its territory so far as institutional training and education are concerned and that (subject to the transitional provisions hereinafter contained and to any reciprocal arrangements that any of the said territories may hereafter make with any other country) no person shall be admitted to practice in that territory who does not hold such certificate. But nothing herein contained shall prevent any territory from imposing additional qualifications as a condition of admission to practise therein.

1. The foregoing provisions of this Article shall be subject to the terms of the Protocol to this Agreement which shall have effect for the purpose specified therein.@

  1. Quite clearly therefore Ms. Longsworth's application does not fall within the ambit of section 61(a) of the Legal Profession Act. I can add straightaway that I do not think paragraph (c) of subsection (1)of section 6 of the Act avails either. I have not in my capacity as Chief Justice by an Order designated any country for the purposes of this subsection nor am I aware of any such Order by a predecessor designating any countries.

  2. Therefore, in my view, Ms. Longsworth's application falls to be considered within the provisions of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 6 of the Act.

  3. However, this Court cannot be unmindful of the provisions of the Agreement Establishing the Council of Legal Education. The functions and powers of the Council are stated in Article 1.3 of the Agreement. From the scheme of the Agreement it would seem that the award to any person by the Council of the Legal Education Certificate, upon satisfactory completion of the course of study and professional study at one of the Law Schools established by the Council, is central, if not indispensable, to admission to practice in the territory of the participating member states to the Agreement.

  4. As I have mentioned earlier, Article 5 relating to admission to practice states in part:

A. . . no person shall be admitted to practice in (the) territory (of participating member states) who does not hold such certificate.@

  1. Also, as I mentioned earlier, section 6(1)(a) of the Legal Profession Act, stipulates in addition to being a Belizean citizen, the holding of a Legal Education Certificate, as part of the requirement that must be met to satisfy the Supreme Court for admission to practice law.

  2. This Legal Education Certificate again as has been pointed out above is defined in section 2 of the Act.

  3. The Agreement Establishing the Council of Legal Education is no doubt, an international transaction that is in the nature of a treaty. It is fundamental in the relationship between states and governments that agreements must be observed and performed. This basic necessity for peaceful and cooperative international discourse and exchanges between states, is expressed in the maxim pacta sunt servanda.

  4. Additionally, a state should do everything in its power to ensure that its laws and activities do not derogate from its international or treaty obligations. A state cannot in an international forum or adjudication be heard to plead its domestic law as a reason for its inability or cause to meet its international obligations.

  5. I have taken the time to make these observations because, though the admission to practice law is essentially a domestic exercise for the relevant authorities of the jurisdictions concerned, it may well have international dimensions and considerations.

  6. This, in my view, seems to be the case in relation to the States and territories that concluded the Agreement to Establish the Council of Legal Education. By this Agreement, the participating governments, among which is the government of Belize, invest the Council with the powers and functions, among other things, to undertake and discharge general responsibility for the practical professional training of persons seeking to become members of the legal profession. And, more fundamentally, is the undertaking of participating government as stipulated in Article 5 of the Agreement relating to admission to practice.

  7. In the light of all this, it is imperative in my view that everything should be done to give meaning, substance and effect to the provisions in the Agreement relating to the Council of Legal Education.

  8. I realise, of course, that under subsection (2) of section 6 of the Act, the Chief Justice is given power to prescribe the practice and procedure to be followed in relation to applications for admission to practise law and enrolment as an Attorney, and also to make regulations as to the requisite qualifications for admission and enrolment under paragraph (b) of subsection (1).

I am not aware of any practice and procedure that have been prescribed for application to practice nor of regulations as to qualifications for admission under section 6(1)(b). And I have as yet not made any.

However, I hope to bear in mind the several observations I have made in this decision relating to the Agreement Establishing the Council of Legal Education in prescribing the practice and procedure and regulations as to qualifications for admission to practise law. This is necessary not only for Belize's credibility in fulfilling its own international obligations but also to coordinate, consolidate and enhance legal education, training and the practice of the profession in the region.

  1. However, in the instant application, regard must be had to all of the legal provisions governing admission to practise and enrolment as an Attorney in Belize.

  2. From the averments in her Affidavit and the several exhibits thereto, it is clear that Ms. Longsworth does not meet the requirements of section 6(1)(a) of the Legal Profession Act, by reason of the fact that she does not hold a Legal Education Certificate issued by the Council of Legal Education.

  3. However, I am of the view that her application properly falls to be considered under the provisions of section 6(1)(b); and the question for determination therefore is: has she obtained adequate training in the law; and is she suitably qualified and competent to practise law in Belize? And is she of good character?

  4. This latter requirement as to good character, I must hasten to add, is a statutory requirement for admission to practise law and enrolment as an Attorney in Belize. I am satisfied that Ms. Longsworth is possessed of character that would be of credit to the profession. This fact is attested to in the two supporting Affidavits filed by Mr. Dean Barrow S.C. and Mr. Michael Young S.C. respectively.

  5. Ms. Longsworth deposes in paragraphs 7 and 9 of her Affidavit as follows:

    A7. That I was employed as Crown Counsel in the office of the Solicitor General in the Attorney General's Ministry from the 1st September 2000 to the 15th of August 2001.

    1. That during my tenure as Crown Counsel in the office of the Solicitor General in the Attorney General's Ministry I was exposed to and gained considerable experience in both chamber and court practice in Belize.@

    She elaborates on this in her supplemental Affidavit.

  6. It is clear therefore that in the light of the provisions of section 8 of the Legal Profession Act she could, as a Law Officer of Government, in her case as Crown Counsel, have been admitted ex officio and enrolled as an Attorney. I am not sure whether that was done in her case. However, upon the termination of her appointment, by the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, she would still have to seek and satisfy the requirements of section 6 in order to be entitled to practise law in any other capacity other than a Law Officer of Government.

  7. This I surmise, is the cause of the present application.

  8. In answer to the first question I posed earlier relating to adequate training in the law and being suitably qualified and competent to practise law in Belize, I am guided by the observation of the President of the Court of Appeal Telford Georges in Re Fitzgerald and Starmer 3 Belize Law Report, 311 at p.315:

AApplying any academic standard it can be conceded that a degree in law from Oxford University and a post graduate degree from Cambridge with a call to the Bar intervening can be taken as evidence of adequate training in law.@

  1. I am therefore prepared to hold and do hold that the possession by Ms. Longsworth of a Honours LL.B. with an upper second, as it is popularly referred to, from the University of London, together with a Post Graduate Diploma from the Inns of Court School of Law at the City University in London, which diploma is graded as very competent, attests that she is adequately trained in the law.

  2. Additionally, Ms. Longsworth during her, albeit brief, stint in the office of the Solicitor General in the Attorney General's Ministry was exposed to and gained considerable experience in both chamber and court practice here in Belize. This, in my view, shows that she is suitably qualified and competent to practise law in this country. This conclusion is supported by the Affidavit of Messrs. Barrow S.C. and Young S.C., two Senior Counsel and worthy opponents with whom Ms. Longsworth crossed forensic swords in her capacity as Crown Counsel.

  3. Accordingly therefore, I am satisfied on the evidence before me and do declare that Ms. Tanya Longsworth has obtained adequate training in the law and is suitably qualified and competent to practise law in Belize; and as evidenced by her Affidavit, she has met the other requirement of payment of
    the annual subscription to the Bar Association of Belize. I therefore declare her as fit and proper for admission to practise law and order that her name be entered on the Roll of the Court.

A. O. CONTEH
Chief Justice

DATED: 14th September, 2001.