Once again I ask that you consider this second instalment on the ﾑQuality of Justiceﾴ series prompted by the Furhmann case reported in The Tribune (Feb. 28).
ﾓA German investor plans to use a major tourism fair in his homeland as a platform to attack the Bahamas and its lawyers for alleged corruption and inefficiency.ﾔ (Tribune, Feb 28, 2003, pg 2).
Once, long ago, the Bahamas had the notoriety of being a pirate-haven ﾗ when only the laws of the jungle prevailed and where one ventured at the very risk of oneﾴs life. The British Crown appointed Woods Rogers to perform the Herculean task of cleaning out the place and bringing a semblance of law to its wayward colony. The history of the nation since then has been characterised by occasional piratical practices, such as gun- and rum and, most recently, drug-running. But, being now a sovereign and independent nation, the Bahamas has the responsibility for cleaning up its own house. It may have the assistance of the US in its interdictions of the modern-day pirates ﾗ the drug-runners and money-launderers ﾗ but it is this nationﾴs responsibility to enforce its laws and administer its justice in such a way as to protect its citizens and its guests and visitors. Besides the police and Defence Force, which must capture and bring the criminals before the courts, it is the judicial system and its representatives (Attorney Generalﾴs Office and the legal fraternity) that must see to it that justice is done and the criminal is punished. Unfortunately, corruption has been found in virtually all aspects of the process ﾗ both amongst the enforcers of the law (police) as well as amongst the members of the legal profession. The local Bar Association is the professional association responsible for dealing with corruption amongst its members.
Recently, empowered by the Legal Profession Act (of 1992) to relieve the Attorney Generalﾴs Office of the responsibility for rooting out corruption and unprofessional conduct among lawyers, the AGﾴs Office cannot ultimately be held responsible for bringing wayward lawyers to justice when they have conducted themselves in an unprofessional or even criminal manner; that function now rests squarely with the Bar Association.
So, while Mr Furhmann may be justified in complaining against the Bar Association and the legal fraternity for closing ranks against him and not aiding him in rectifying the ﾓinjusticesﾔ that heﾴs suffered at the hands of unscrupulous local lawyers, he cannot justifiably expect much assistance from the AG or the Government.
In a community of this (small) size it is naturally difficult to get one lawyer to help one to bring one of his peers to justice.
It really must be the Bar Association that recognises the importance of holding its members accountable and for rooting out the rotten apples in the barrel in order to protect the quality of justice that everyone experiences in their social and business interactions in our community (whether they be Bahamians or non-Bahamians).
There are signs that the Bar Association has begun to recognise its responsibility for both maintaining the standard of professional service of its members as well as for protecting the good name of the nation from the sort of terrible international publicity that foreign investors, such as Mr Furhmann, may level at us.
CONCERNED
Nassau
Letter To The Editor
May 2nd, 2003, The Tribune
