The sod‑turning ceremony for a fourth law school under the Council of Legal Education was held yesterday at UG’s Turkeyen Campus. The ceremony was intended to address growing demand for legal education across the Caribbean.
The project received formal approval from the Council of Legal Education in September 2025 after a feasibility process. The Government will provide the infrastructure and the regional Council will manage the law school.
Guyana has historically had limited access to regional law‑school places, including an allocation of 25 places annually at Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago.
CLE Chairman Liesel Weekes said the Council will retain control over the new law school, including the appointment of its principal and lecturers and the selection of students through its Selection Committee. Weekes indicated the Council is moving towards eliminating distinctions based on nationality when determining admission and said it is unlikely there will be a quota of any nationality of students.
The new institution is projected to admit 120 students in its first year, although it remains unclear how many of those places will ultimately be taken up by Guyanese students. Weekes said tuition will be set based on the economic realities in Guyana and noted that the government may very well say the first class will be free.
Weekes said the timeline for completion of the new law school remains a matter for Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall.
The proposal was raised at a Council meeting in 1996 by then Attorney General Bernard De Santos, acting on the instructions of then President Dr Cheddi Jagan. The first cohort of graduates from UG’s LLB programme in 1995 encountered difficulties securing places, and the second batch in 1996 faced similar problems. In 2021, before travelling to a Council meeting in Barbados, the President told him: “AG, go and bring home this law school.”
