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Eugene Dupuch Law School adds depth to professional pool
WELCOME BAHAMAS - NASSAU, CABLE BEACH & PARADISE ISLAND - 2003
Eugene Dupuch Law School adds depth to professional pool
Named in honour of a great Bahamian lawyer and politician, the Eugene Dupuch Law School in Nassau enables students from The Bahamas and the Caribbean to study close to home while learning the law of the jurisdiction in which they will eventually practice.
In the past, students had to go abroad to study - often to England or Canada - and learn English Common Law. While the Bahamian judicial system is based on English Common Law, much like other countries in the Caribbean region which are former British colonies, there is also a wide body of statute, or written, law.
At the Eugene Dupuch Law School, instructors "tailor their courses for each of the jurisdictions from which we have students," notably the British Virgin Islands and Turks & Caicos, as well as The Bahamas, says principal Miriam Samaru. "Students are taught the law of the territory in which they intend to practice."
The school, which opened in 1998, is the third established by the Council of Legal Education (Caribbean). The Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica were both established in 1975.
The Eugene Dupuch Law School also operates a legal aid clinic in Nassau directed by lawyer Arthur Dion Hanna Jr. All second-year students are required to perform duties at the clinic one day a week. Not only does this instil a sense of community service, says Samaru, it provides students with valuable first-hand experience in a variety of legal situations.
Enrolment in the two-year programme is currently at 45, but Samaru says projections are for that number to rise to 86 within the next four years.
Graduates receive a Legal Education Certificate (LEC), a professional qualification that enables them to be called to the Bars of West Indian countries. The programme has attracted students not only from The Bahamas, British Virgin Islands and Turks & Caicos, but from the Cayman Islands, Antigua, St Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago and the US Virgin Islands. Students in the LLB programme at the University of the West Indies are required to attend the law school to qualify to be called to the Bar.
Beyond providing unique learning opportunities for its students, the school has also benefited the financial services sector, says Samaru. "Quite a number of our graduates have moved into the corporate field and gone on to work in offshore financial services," she notes.
While classes are held in temporary quarters at the College of The Bahamas' School of Hospitality and Tourism Studies, the plan is to eventually have everything on one campus, perhaps near the Eugene Dupuch Law School Library in Oakes Field.
Under the American Caribbean Law Initiative (ACLI) the school has also formed alliances with a number of US law schools, including Thurgood Marshall, Florida Coastal and Nova Southeastern.
One of the ACLI's projects is a Caribbean Law Clinic, in which students from all the law schools prepare legal opinions on problems posed by Attorney-Generals of the region, says Samaru. "The last clinic was held in Nassau and was extremely successful," she says. "The cross-border student interaction is seen as essential in this era of globalization."
Hon Eugene Dupuch, QC
The late Hon Eugene Dupuch, QC, a brilliant lawyer, powerful writer, talented musician and statesman, was at the centre of all the major human rights campaigns during his lifetime. He was one of the speakers and backers of the historic anti-discrimination bill - presented by his brother the late Sir Etienne Dupuch, outspoken editor of The Tribune newspaper - which ended racial discrimination in public places in The Bahamas. He was also well-known for his courtroom victories and for helping to write the Bahamian Constitution.
A testament to his greatness, Eugene Dupuch was conferred with an "appointment of silk," or title of Queen's Counsel, which marks the pinnacle of achievement for a lawyer. Appointed to the Inner Bar, QCs represent the Crown.
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