While there are back-and-forth discussions about the proposed Legal Professions Bill, which has been tabled twice in the House of Assembly, a row is brewing between Virgin Islands lawyers and their English counterparts who practise here.
If passed into law, the new bill would fundamentally recast the regulation of the profession within the jurisdiction.
Key functions are admission to practise and the validation of training institutions and pupillages. The present laws and regulations allow United Kingdom-qualified lawyers to be admitted to practise law in the VI days after being admitted to practise in the UK. No experience is required. Of course, VI lawyers who trained in the UK enjoy the same privilege.
And because of the impending legislation, there is a mad rush by overseas lawyers to be admitted — an average of about two per week. The government gets a pittance from the admission: a ridiculous one-time fee of $100. There is no renewal fee.
Photographs
Some of these lawyers came down to the VI to be admitted and journey back to London as VI lawyers. After being admitted, a few of them took photographs with their wig and gown outside the court house at Road Town, presumably to show their colleagues in the UK — although wigs are now not worn by lawyers or even judges in the VI.
The new admission criteria will treat UK-qualified lawyers less favourably than the existing regulations. This is because they will have to prove that they have five years of prior professional practice experience before they will be eligible to apply for admission in the territory. This is in contrast to requirements for lawyers who trained in the West Indies: an LLB degree from the University of the West Indies and two years of professional training from one of UWI’s law schools.
Controversy
There seems to be some controversy about the bill. It was first tabled in 2006 and was shelved because the disagreement made it impossible to pass before the 2007 elections. In July 2012 a similar bill was reintroduced, but the House of Assembly was prorogued after its first reading. This means that the measure will have to be reintroduced, and there are reports that there is some dissatisfaction with certain clauses, which may have to be modified before it is re-tabled or might have to be amended after the first reading.
The bill was not listed on the order paper for last Thursday’s HOA sitting, and it is not known when it might be placed on the agenda again.
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