Justice must be seen to be done in Barbados

Barbadians may be a bit more than just curious about a recent decision of High Court Judge, Justice Shonna Griffith, which gave the Disciplinary Committee of the Barbados Bar Association and the Bar itself permission or “leave” to go ahead with proceedings against two attorneys who were convicted of misappropriating their clients’ funds.

The instruction from the court provides the crucial step in moving forward and it also sets the parameters for future disciplinary action.

By any standard, the offences by the two attorneys, Vonda Pile and Cheraine Parris, pierced the heart of the highest levels of ethics and the ideals of the profession.

The case in question in a nutshell was novel in that the matters were dealt with initially by the criminal court and not through the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar which is initiated by way of a complaint from an affected person. Here no complaints were made so the issue was how to proceed against them and whether they were fit to practise law following conviction and a term of imprisonment.

The Committee initially granted leave to the Bar Association to proceed but later withdrew it. The court held it was unreasonable but no prejudice was done to either attorney so the disciplinary matter could proceed as there is no dispute in terms of convictions.

Legal Profession Act

Recently, the Barbados Bar Association revealed some of the provisions it would like to see in the Legal Profession Act, admitting that: “findings of theft from clients and related misconduct destroy the reputation of not only the profession but also Barbados as a jurisdiction”.

The lawyers’ group was crystal clear that “the aim of the legislative provisions is to ensure each and every year that clients’ funds are safe and that clients’ accounts are in order before the issuance of a practising certificate to an attorney”.

“The requirement for financial probity among attorneys is essential within the legal profession and indeed a requirement for the due administration of justice.”

This speaks to the Bar Association attempting to take crucial steps to curb theft of clients’ funds entrusted to attorneys.

That explains why the Bar Association, in a non-adversarial and unprecedented move took the Disciplinary Committee to court to ensure that the matter of accountability for clients’ funds was handled appropriately; the procedures to get the job done were sound; and the protection of the rights of attorneys and their clients guaranteed justice for all parties.

The action deserves applause. Equally, the judge’s action has prepared the wicket, to use a sports metaphor, for the match to be played in earnest.

Trust

People in and out of Barbados and its diaspora are going to pay close attention to what happens in any case that pits the disciplinary forces – the Committee and the Bar Association – against attorneys in private practice. That is because such a situation will include the elements of trust in one’s lawyer being paramount, erasing lingering feeling that lawyers are going to protect their own.

This much is clear: the overwhelming majority of the nation’s legal practitioners are honest and there is little, if any evidence, that the Disciplinary Committee and the Bar are engaged in a process of circling the wagon, meaning protecting each other at their clients’ expense. We may be dealing here with a “few bad” apples in a large barrel, has always been the contention by the Bar.

This latest move comes at a time when the outgoing Chief Justice Sir Patterson Cheltenham also called for an amendment to the Act that would allow for swifter justice for clients whose funds were misappropriated.

The guilt of the two attorneys has already been established by the law courts and they served time in prison.

Should there now be further punishment via the route of disbarment? That we are waiting to see.

Lord Hewart, a jurist of the House of Lords in London, advised a century ago: “Justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.”

That maxim, often taught in classes at the University of the West Indies in Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica where Caribbean lawyers are trained, can be applied in the case of the Disciplinary Committee and the Bar Association.

Another consideration is the effort by the Law Reform Commission to upgrade and clarify the rules that govern the practice of law, including how to treat lawyers who run afoul of their profession’s guardrails and in the process may be helping to give the profession a bad name.

The current matter may be seen as a test case and it can turn out to be an opportunity that sends a powerful message to the public at large about the true meaning of making this abstract justice a reality for those who seek redress after reposing trust in their lawyers only to have it betrayed.