When the Senate meets on Wednesday, it is expected to pass the Legal Profession Amendment Act - signaling the end for the Bar Association as we know it. Once the bill is assented to by the Governor General - the Bar will no longer be able to collect compulsory fees from attorneys - and membership in the association will no longer be mandatory for those attorneys.
Some view it is a day to be rude, while others say, who cares?
Whichever way, the end of the Bar Association in its original incarnation it is at hand - and so Thursday's exchange in the House of Representatives could be seen as a kind of eulogy for the Bar Association as we once knew it. And, like a drunken thief who had done wrong by everyone including his own mother - even those who defended the bar couldn't find that much good to say about it:..
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Nobody cares you know, nobody out there cares about what's going on with respect to lawyers and the Bar Association of Belize."
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Leader of The Opposition
"We are not defending the Bar. The Bar has a long history that you can look at and from time to time there have been very questionable chapters in that history."
Hon. Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Belize Rural Central Rep.
"Mr. Speaker, many Belizeans see attorneys as fat cats, but I can tell you that you have some good ones, you have some bad ones."
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Leader of The Opposition
"So the Bar, the Belizeans have serious concerns about the role and function of the Bar."
Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Attorney General
"Regretfully, it is evident that not many of us were properly trained. This Bar Association does public service for nobody and you will see how pernicious it was and untruthful."
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"How will you force me to belong to a bar association because I am a lawyer if I don't want to belong to the Bar Association? And speaking for myself I do not want to belong to your bar association."
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