To paraphrase Shakespeare – the quality of justice is ever strained as a community evolves and ever changing circumstances require fundamental changes to the manner in which the people's customs and traditions are formalized into laws and these enforced equally among all its members – equal justice for all!
One might go so far as to say that the quality of justice found in a community is indeed one of the most important criteria for judging the quality of a people's culture as a whole.
Once, long ago, The Bahamas, like other Caribbean island countries had the notoriety of being a lawless pirate haven requiring the forceful intervention of a crown-appointed mission headed by Woodes Rogers.
The nation's history since then has been characterized by lapses into other sorts of piratical practices such as gun-and-rum running and most recently drug-running. But, having now attained both its independence and a degree of social maturity The Bahamas has the responsibility for cleaning its own house. Unfortunately, perhaps as a result of this history, corruption has been found to seep back into virtually all aspects of the processes of self-governance.
Besides the Police and Defence Force who must capture and bring the criminals before the courts, it is the judicial system and its representatives (the Attorney General's Office and the legal fraternity) who must see to it that justice is done and the criminals punished. But, as has happened elsewhere as well, the fraternity of lawyers have established a professional association (the Bahamas Bar Association) to which the government transferred the power to monitor and discipline its wayward members (through the Legal Professions Act of 1992).
We have recently had some very high-profile cases (such as that of the German public relations executive – Mr. Fuhrmann) in which Mr. Fuhrmann alleged that the legal fraternity closed ranks to prevent the "foreigner" from obtaining justice in our courts (ostensibly by claiming to have lost his files – a common expedient amongst some lawyers these days).
An embittered Fuhrmann complained of "anti-foreign attitudes" and, finding no aid in his local pursuit of justice through either the AG's office or the local Bar Association, has gone on a massive publicity campaign to expose the alleged corrupt state of affairs in sections of the local legal fraternity.
Surely the Bar Association has been remiss in its duties (both to the upstanding members of the profession as well as to the nation's reputation and good name) if it has indeed failed to arrange a proper hearing of the man's case.
The legal profession has been subjected to some very serious criticism (see Ms. Kelly's article of January 16, 2003) in which she refers to this corruption in our society as a "culture of criminality" – and even the Chief Justice (Burton Hall) has called some of the tactics used by some lawyers to their advantage (delays as a "tool of litigation") scurrilous legal practices which undermine the quality of justice in The Bahamas.
It has been with some considerable optimism that some observers have noted the new President of the Bar – Wayne Munroe – has had the courage to take on the Herculean task of disciplining the wayward members of the legal community who have so far escaped justice – thus hopefully restoring the quality of justice for future generations and giving Bahamians grounds for renewed pride in their culture. Bravo, Mr. Munroe!
Concerned
July 8
