The recent hullabaloo in Barbados sparked by the Barbados Bar Association (BBA) publishing three individuals offering legal services if of interest.It reminds the blogmaster of what transpired in the 90s, when a few small (Black) entrepreneurs created a used car industry and the established dealerships shouted ‘blue murder’ and eventually drove them out of business.
It is obvious the BBA has taken a decision to nip what potentially is a growing demand for legal services by an underserved market. Underserved not because we do not have a membership of one thousand plus lawyers, moreso we have a large segment of the population who do not have the resources to contract lawyers. To those who would parrot that the Community Legal Services is available to such persons, based on Barbados Underground’s research, this is another useless government entity that only serves to frustrate those desperate to seek services offered. By the way, the below is the mission and vision statements of Community Legal Services.
Mission Statement
To provide high quality service to persons of insufficient means who require Legal Aid.
Vision Statement
To support the justice system by efficiently and effectively using available resources to provide timely assistance to qualified applicants for Legal Aid.
For years Barbadians on the rock and in the diaspora have been complaining about the poor services meted out by the legal profession with unsatisfactory response. This includes the Disciplinary Committee (DC), although we have seen a few token cases of recent, not enough to satisfy the number of complaints filed with the DC. In fact, would you be surprised to learn that many Barbadians and others do not bother to file complaints because of the belief the system only serves to frustrate and upheave a citizen’s emotional state?
In the same way water flows to the point of least resistance, so too citizens with limited to no resources will seek services to attempt to correct wrongs. The blogmaster is aware citizens offering services under the guise of being a ‘McKenzie Friend’ make enter informal arrangement for financial compensation. Perhaps this is a concern of the BBA?
The uproar over the three names on the BBA list is only a symptom of a deeper national failure. For decades, successive governments have tip toed around the dysfunction of the Barbados Bar Association and its sister entity the Disciplinary Committee, choosing political convenience over institutional remedy. The result is a justice system where ordinary Barbadians have become alienated. No surprise many are looking elsewhere for help because the official channels have become dysfuntional.
When a society reaches the point where citizens trust informal actors more than the bodies legally mandated to protect them, the decline is no longer creeping; it is systemic. Unless we confront the rot in these key gatekeeping institutions, citizens will continue to lose confidence in the very institutions established to protect them, and then what?
Are we there yet?
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.