The Guyana Bar Association has expressed grave concern over media reports that internal correspondence among judges of the Caribbean Court of Justice was leaked, but the statement has drawn sharp pushback from prominent attorney Nigel Hughes, who says it fails to reflect the views of a significant section of Guyana’s legal profession.
In its statement, the Bar Council said the CCJ, as Guyana’s final appellate court, must remain a “bastion of justice,” and that internal deliberations must stay confidential. It said the unauthorised disclosure itself, not the content, risks bringing the administration of justice into disrepute, and took no position on the substance of what was disclosed.
Hughes, Managing Partner at Hughes, Fields & Stoby, rejected that framing. He said he is “not persuaded” the Bar Council’s statement reflects the broader legal community, noting that many practitioners, senior and junior alike, are concerned not about the leak itself, but about what it revealed.
According to Hughes, the correspondence shows a majority of sitting CCJ judges raised serious concerns about governance, consultation, decision-making, and leadership within the Court, including allegations of unilateral decision-making and attempts to influence judicial outcomes.
He argued these concerns, coming from within the Court itself, cannot be waved aside as a confidentiality issue, calling instead for an independent examination of the matters raised. Confidentiality, Hughes said, “cannot become a shield” behind which serious allegations about a court’s operations are insulated from scrutiny.
Hughes stressed his aim is not to undermine the CCJ, but to protect it, arguing that institutions grow stronger when concerns are confronted openly rather than suppressed.