Two-Year Programme

The Hugh Wooding Law School

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COURSE DESCRIPTION
The Hugh Wooding Law School offers a two-year, full-time programme of training for persons who hold a degree of Bachelor of Laws from the University of the West Indies or another university approved by the Council leading to the award of the Legal Education Certificate, which is recognised in the participating states as the professional qualification for admission to practice. Details of the courses offered are provided in the Regulations for the Legal Education Certificate.

Admissions for Entry for 2025/2026

Entry Requirements

1. To be eligible for admission, applicants must have obtained one or other of the following qualifications:

The Degree of Bachelor of Laws from the University of the West Indies;
The Degree of Bachelor of Laws from the University of Guyana provided that:
– The holder of this degree is a national of Guyana; and
– The holder is on the list of 25 nationals of Guyana provided by the Registrar of the University of Guyana annually to the Council of Legal Education.

2. To be considered for admission, applicants who are in possession of the following qualifications must sit the annual Entrance Examination conducted by the Council of Legal Education and subject to the availability of space, will be offered a place at the Law School to which they are zoned:

A university degree in law awarded by a university in a common law jurisdiction; or
The Common Professional Examination Certificate (UK) together with vocational training;
Non-nationals of Guyana who are holders of an LL.B. degree awarded by the University of Guyana
Nationals of Guyana who are the holders of an LL.B. degree awarded by the University of Guyana and who were not on the list of 25 graduates provided annually to the Council of Legal Education by the Registrar of the University of Guyana whether the degree was awarded in the current academic year or in a previous year.

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Programme Curriculum

YEAR I

Civil Procedure and Practice I

Course Director – Dr. Martha Des Vignes

Practice and procedure in summary courts including family and affiliation matters and proceedings for enforcement of judgements and orders and appeals. Practice and procedure in the Supreme Court of Judicature at first instance and in Special Tribunals. Family Law Practice and Procedure including trial of undefended matters in common law and civil law systems and status of children. Initiation of proceedings, writs, petitions, motions, summonses and other originating process. Pleadings, Interlocutory applications. Summary Judgement.

Criminal Practice and Procedure

Course Director – Mr. Roger Ramgoolam

Practice and procedure in summary courts created by statute. Preliminary inquiries and similar process. Coroners’ Inquest. Appeals from summary courts. Practice and procedure in higher courts -indictments, informations, trial by jury, verdict, sentence, compensation and costs in criminal cases. Appeals to Courts of Appeal from conviction on indictment or information. Powers of Courts of Appeal, application of the proviso in criminal appeals. Rights, obligations, powers and duties of Police. General principles relating to punishment. Prisons, Borstals, Juvenile detention centres, probations, suspended sentences, fines, bonds. Appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, as of right, by leave of Courts of Appeal, by special leave of the Judicial Committee. Procedure in appeals to the Privy Council.

Evidence and Forensic Medicine

Course Director – Mr. Akhail Khan

The general principles of the English common law of evidence. Res gestae. The rule against hearsay declarations; confessions, statutory variations of the common law in relation to the admissibility of evidence, competence and compellability, oaths and affirmations, proof of documents, judicial notice, primary and secondary evidence. Unsworn testimony. Convictions as evidence in civil cases. Usage of words in West Indian speech. The oath as a vehicle to truth. Forensic Medicine. General Principles of medical jurisprudence and toxicology. Medical evidence in civil and criminal cases.

Law of Remedies

Course Director – Mrs. Cheryl-Ann Jerome Alexander

General and special damages in contract and tort. Pleadings and proof. Calculation and assessment of damages in cases of personal injury and death. Judicial trends in the West Indies. Apportionment of damages. Remoteness.

Landlord and Tenant

Course Director – Mrs. Susan Charles-Sylvester

The general principles of the English Law of landlord and tenant, share cropping agricultural contracts, agricultural holdings, security of tenure, statutory regulation and control of leases and tenancies in the West Indies. Chattel houses. Movable and immovable dwellings. Assignments of leasehold interests and tenancies. Damage for wrongful or forceful ejectment.

Legal Drafting and Interpretation

Course Director – Mrs. Kerry-Ann Harrison

The techniques of drafting legislation and documents with legislative effect. Use of language in the West Indies. Legislative recognition of customs and practices. The drafting of deeds, wills and other documents. The general principles of interpretation of deeds, statutes and other instruments. The interpretation of Constitutional Instruments. The writing of opinions, decisions and judgments.

Trial Advocacy (Year I)

Course Director – Mr. Roger Ramgoolam

In Service Training

All Year 1 students are required to undergo an in-service training programme for a minimum of ten weeks during the summer vacation of each year. They are placed in public and private law offices in a Commonwealth Caribbean territory of their choice. Where a student chooses to undergo his/her practical training in a territory of which he/she is a non-national, that student has to conform with the relevant immigration requirements.

Court Attendance

There is a compulsory court attendance programme for students of the Law School. Students are required to attend a number of actual criminal and civil trials in both the Supreme Court and the Resident Magistrates Courts. Attendance must be certified by a court office or an attorney-at-law who is present in court.

YEAR II

Civil Procedure and Practice II

Course Director – Ms. Paula Pierre

Determination of Proceedings without trial. Preparation for trial. Trial, judgment and orders. Enforcement of judgment and orders. Equitable Remedies and Prerogative Orders. Restitution. Costs. Review of taxation of costs. Appeals in relation to costs. Appeals from courts of first instance including interlocutory applications in appeals, security for costs, stay of execution of judgements appealed from, dismissal of appeals for non-compliance with rules, reinstatement. Hearing and Judgment; Costs of appeal; Appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, as of right, by leave of Courts of Appeal and by special leave of the Judicial Committee. Practice and procedure in appeals to the Judicial Committee. The practice relating to the formation, operation and dissolution of companies and other associations. The practice and procedure in contentious matters in Probate and Administration proceedings.

Conveyancing & Registration of Title

Course Director – Mrs. Nisha Mathura-Allahar

General principles of conveyancing in relation to freehold, leasehold and other interests in the civil and common law systems of the West Indies including indigenous developments in both systems. The acquisition of title and land registration. The Torrens System, the Roman-Dutch system of conveyancing. Title registers. Practice and procedure in relation to the acquisition of interests in land by judicial process. Vesting of property under statute. Legislation relating to housing, town and country planning and compulsory acquisition of land. Crown and state land tenure and interests. Restrictive convenants and their modification and variation. Prescription. Mortgages, charges, liens and hypothecs.

Ethics, Rights and Obligations of the Legal Profession

Course Director – Mrs. Aberleen Bodoosingh

The status of members of the legal profession as officers of the Courts, independence of members of the legal profession, duties to the Court, clients, the public and the profession, the ethics of the legal profession; obligations to the public to promote the rule of law and to support the creation and maintenance of an independent judiciary; the role of the legal profession in aiding members of the public to secure adequate representation in legal proceedings, representation in matters in forma pauperis. Solicitors’ practice. Advocacy. Legal Aid.

Law Office Management, Accounting and Technology

Course Director – Mr. Errol Ramsubeik

General principles of office management. Book-keeping and accounts. Double entry bookkeeping.

The interpretation of balance sheets. Accounts generally and the separation of clients’ accounts from personal accounts. The preparation of bills of cost in legal proceedings. Records, filing and safekeeping of clients’ documents. Taxation of professional men. Duty to make tax returns.

Professional advice on taxation.

Probate Practice & Procedure

Course Director – Mr. Rudranath Maharaj

The general principles of the law regulating testate and intestate succession in the common and civil law systems of the West Indies. Wills, intestacy and the administration and winding-up of the estate of deceased persons. The administration of trusts and settlements. Practice and procedure in non-contentious matters in probate and administration proceedings.

Trial Advocacy (Year II)

Course Director – The Hon. Mr. Justice Boodoosingh

Students are expected to acquire competence during the two-year course in:

(a) general advocacy (including court room etiquette);
(b) negotiation and alternative dispute resolution;
(c) interviewing clients; and
(d) preparation of cases for litigation and settlement.

Legal Aid Clinic

All Year II students are required to attend the Law School’s Legal Aid Clinic.

Office Hours

Administration Department
8:00 am to 4:00 pm (Mondays to Fridays).

Registrar: Ms Nicole Amalie Carter

Assistant Registrar: Mr Brian Norville
(Finance & Property Maintenance)

Assistant Registrar: Ms Anisha Berment
(Student Services, Events & Records Management)

Contact

Phone: 1 (868) 235-4957(HWLS), 1 (868) 235-4958,
1 (868) 235-4959
Fax: (868) 662-9607
E-mail: academic@hwlsedu.com

Two-Year Programme

The Hugh Wooding Law School