Make continuous education mandatory for lawyers

A call has been issued for the Barbados Bar Association to put in place mandatory continuous education for all of its practising lawyers.

It came from Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson, who said that it is necessary to follow the example set by other Caribbean jurisdictions, which have already implemented such measures.

“I want to propose that we start thinking about that here in Barbados; that we look at delegating that as a condition of registration. You should look at presenting something which certifies that you have undergone continuing education,” he stressed.

Sir Marston was quick to add that this retraining should also include magistrates and judges.

Addressing the opening of the Association’s inaugural two day conference at the Hilton Barbados on Friday morning, the CJ also highlighted that client interaction especially was one area that must be addressed in the retraining process.

“The whole idea of procedural fairness is treating clients as human beings. For me, continuing education includes processes like that. The idea of how do we deal with a client after you have been in court all day until 3:30, you have a meeting at four with your client and the judge is giving you a real difficult time and you still have to face the client. How do you present a fresh face to this client who is employing you?

“For me, the idea of continuing education is to keep you every year re-examining yourself, re-examining your competency,” he continued.
(JMB)