Bar serves trust
The St. Maarten Bar Association has launched a training course for apprentice lawyers (see last Saturday’s WeekEnder). The initiative deserves the public’s attention and appreciation. This is not because the majority of citizens will find themselves at one time or another in need of a lawyer for reasons of criminal behaviour. Rather, it has become common practice to seek the judgment of the court in differences of opinion on matters of personal or business nature. People are quick to turn to the court for a decision in matters of a general character. Civil cases by far outnumber criminal ones and the number of attorneys has seen a steady increase reaching about 50 currently. In other words: lawyers play quite a pivotal role in our society. Any initiative to improve their performance should have the public’s attention. The training course for apprentice lawyers is such an initiative.
The career of any young lawyer starts with a legally obligated three year apprenticeship. During that period he or she is coached by an experienced lawyer at the office of employment. Due to the heavy load of work at most offices in St. Maarten this aspect of the apprenticeship often falls short of what it should be. The new course started by the Bar Association seeks to remedy that situation. It focuses heavily on professional performance.
The message this initiative sends to the public is one of recognition by the Bar of the profession’s responsibility toward society. In turn this quest for quality should enhance the public’s trust in our legal system in which legal representation plays such a basic role.
This development is even more to be applauded as our society is caught up in a process of constitutional reform. In such processes people (not only investors) always worry about their legal “rights.” Even though such concern seems unnecessary against the backdrop of the rule of law guaranteed by the Kingdom, initiatives as launched by the Bar contribute to the prevalence of basic trust essential to democratic society.
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