No short cuts, no shady practices

“As the numbers grow in the profession, there are bound to be occasions on which you will be tempted to cut corners and engage in shady practices. Do not succumb,” Chief Justice Sat Sharma warned the 80 graduates admitted to practise law in the courts of Trinidad and Tobago at the Hall of Justice on Friday. Among those admitted were Soroya Volney, daughter of Justice Hubert Volney; Fulton Wilson, son of attorney and chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission Oswald Wilson and who comes from a family of lawyers; Anuusha Panday, daughter of Princes Town MP Subhas Panday; Vijai Deonarine, cousin of Chief Justice Sharma; and Mala Kowlessar, daughter of attorney and police sergeant Nitram Kowlessar. “There is no shortcut to success. No matter how bright you are, or what opportunities may come your way, success depends mainly on hard work, thorough preparation and learning from your mistakes, and scrupulous honesty at all times,” he added.

Sharma said that a steady decline of good conduct by practitioners in our courts has been noticeable in recent years. “This is not the way to go,” he cautioned. “Do not bully witnesses, particularly in cross-examination, and above all, do not be discourteous or disrespectful to the opposing attorney.” Such actions, he said, would bring the administration of justice into disrepute and tarnish a lawyer’s greatest asset, his good name. Sharma said there existed a “current imbalance” between the demand for legal services and their availability to the poor which undermines the legitimacy of the legal system. He said it was farcical to provide members of society a right to basic human needs without a realistic means of enforcing that right. He added: “The lack of legal aid to the poor goes against the basic principles of equity, due process, equal protection and equal access to the justice system.” He expressed confidence that graduates would preserve and strengthen the nobility of the legal profession, making it a better one.