A prominent constitutional lawyer has defended the role of ‘McKenzie friends’ — unlicensed legal advisers — arguing they provide lawful, much-needed support to people unable to afford legal representation, as a public warning by the Barbados Bar Association about unqualified practitioners fuels controversy.
The Bar Association, publicly naming three prominent community and political figures — Winston Clarke, Colin Roach and Quincy Jones — warned the public against receiving paralegal services from individuals who have not been called to the Bar.
But senior counsel Alair Shepherd said: “I just thought somebody from the Bar needed to say to the public that they are filling a badly needed void. They are providing a service, which is not illegal, which has been endorsed, as I understand it, by at least one court who has allowed [Clarke] to speak.”
Senior Counsel Alair Shepherd and community activist Winston Clarke. (JB)
“I will be corrected if I am wrong. In court, assisting people who did not get assistance from lawyers, and who did get assistance from Winston and who was successful in the particular case that I know of.”
Shepherd’s stance was the latest in the ongoing debate ignited by a public notice issued by the Bar Association which said Clarke, Roach and Jones were not entered on the roll of attorneys and “not authorised to provide legal services”.
Shepherd termed the notice “unfortunate”. He said that the names “were published in such a way so as to imply to the public that these persons were attempting to or providing some form of legal service, and that was in breach of the law”.
A McKenzie friend as an individual who provides services to a litigant and is allowed to give support and advice to that person.
The term comes from the English case of McKenzie v McKenzie (1970), which confirmed the right of a self‑represented party to have such assistance in court. The concept has long been recognised in common law in England and throughout the Commonwealth, though detailed rules vary.
Shepherd explained: “Whether that McKenzie friend is allowed to address the court is in the discretion of the trial judge, and it is not unheard of for a trial judge to allow a McKenzie friend to be heard. Having said all of that, it seemed to me that the services provided by Winston and Colin were services that were not only helpful to the community, but they were filling a need.”
Clarke said that after a complaint was made to the BBA after he assisted a litigant in a case, he was not afforded an opportunity to respond, as the body did not contact him but had published notices in the newspaper, one bearing his name.
Winston Clarke (Photo Credit: Jenique Belgrave/Barbados TODAY)
Insisting that he had always made clear that he was not an attorney, he said that the notice has had a negative impact on his livelihood.
“Quite a few people have reached out to me saying that from reading that they believed that I was purporting to be an attorney and that they shouldn’t take advice from me about anything. I am very upset about this and the way it was done because they should have reached out to me,” Clarke said, reiterating his intention to carry the matter before the law courts.
He stressed that he would continue to provide assistance for those people who do not have the means to pay for attorneys.
Noting that he himself has provided legal services over the years and continues to do so, Unity Workers’ Union leader and former senator Caswell Franklyn also threw his support behind Clarke.
Franklin said: “The problem is if you are poor and cannot afford a lawyer you suffer in Barbados and as Mr Shepherd said, Winston and others are providing a need. Almost on a weekly basis I have to see people who do not have the wherewithal to go to a lawyer and I have sent them to Winston.”
Shepherd, Clarke and Franklin made the comments to reporters on Thursday at the UWU’s Belleville office.
(JB)
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