Peter Alleyne expressing concerns: Young lawyers of the Dominica Bar
Prominent Dominican attorney Peter Alleyne is expressing concerns that young lawyers recently called to the Dominica Bar have not been taking up the mantle as promised in assisting those who can’t afford to financially pay.
Since being called to the Bar over ten years ago, Alleyne has been at the forefront in doing pro bono work and assisting the court with persons who cannot afford a lawyer.
When the Criminal Session for 2019 opened on January 15, 2019, Alleyne was among the few lawyers present which included Wayne Norde and Gina Abraham (recently called to the Bar) David Bruney and Ronald Charles who took a matter pro bono.
“I expected to see more of the new/ young lawyers to be at the court to come to see first-hand what was taking place in the court. When they were called to the Bar in their opening speech to the court, they gave all kinds of fancy speeches as to how they intend to serve the society and the development of the country,” Alleyne said.
He continued, “I am a bit disappointed that none of them showed up all be it at the case management stage but just to see what the process is they should have been in court.”
Alleyne said that he is “overwhelmed” with criminal matters and many times has had to do pro bono work to assist people charged before the court. “The Legal Aid Clinic is available but it’s a government agency and so they themselves cannot be defending persons who is accused of a crime while the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) an arm of the State is also prosecuting,” he said.
“The Legal Aid function is to find and contact lawyers who are willing to assist those who don’t have the means to pay a lawyer. So far this has not been happening…those of us (like me) have been picking up the slack and it’s overwhelming now and I would like to see the young lawyers now come and assist,” Alleyne stated.
According to Alleyne if the young lawyers come and observe they will learn. “You study law in order to practice law and when you only do civil matters most times it takes years but in a criminal matter you are on your feet always. You learn advocacy, how to approach the court deal with witnesses, summation to the jury etc, maybe because most of them are women are a bit scared but it’s a good way to wet your feet,” he remarked.
Those of us practicing in the criminal court are pleased with what we have seen thus far it’s a breath of fresh air. We are excited to see the start; too many people who are charged have been languishing in prison and waiting for their day in court.
This article is copyright © 2019 DOM767
