The Nassau Guardian
Call for reforms in QC selection process
Bahamas Bar Association President Elsworth Johnson has called for the reform of the selection process for Queen’s Counsels (QCs).
Section 15 of the Legal Professions Act gives the prime minister the ultimate authority in determining who is awarded the prestigious title.
According to Johnson, the selection process is often based on political patronage and should be changed to a more transparent and independent process.
“I think it’s a process that has to be reformed. In my opinion, I think it’s discriminatory. There are no women QCs in The Bahamas and only two QCs to represent the criminal bar.”
Johnson noted that Prime Minister Perry Christie acknowledged that the appointment procedure was flawed at the opening ceremony for the Bahamas Bar Association’s new headquarters in April.
Christie pledged to appoint more QCs while admitting that many duly-qualified persons had been denied appointments.
He said that the slate of QCs would be more representative of the entire Bar.
In 2003, QC appointments were suspended in England. The appointees are no longer chosen by the government but by a nine-member panel, chaired by a lay person, which includes two barristers, two solicitors, one retired judge and three non-lawyers.
Attorney Maurice Glinton challenged the selection process in 2010 via a lawsuit after his name was not forwarded to the governor general. Glinton, who was called to the Bar in 1980, was invited to apply for the position by the attorney general.
However, Glinton’s name was not included on the list that was forwarded to the governor general on the advice of the prime minster.
Glinton was awarded a declaration that his name should have been included on the list.
Glinton alleged in his lawsuit that the selection process was discriminatory, as two lawyers who were junior to him had been appointed QCs.
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