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ATTORNEY GENERAL John Jeremie, SC, the titular head of the Bar, on October 17, issued a striking call to law students at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine.
“Our existential challenge, the battle of our time, is the restoration of law and order to what has become a state of anarchy,” he told those gathered at a Faculty of Law awards ceremony, referring to continually high homicide rates.
“Whatever our challenges, I urge you to discover your calling and to balance the long view, to serve the public good before you pursue the economic advantages in life’s journey provided by our excellent education.”
Mr Jeremie was addressing young legal eagles at the start of their careers in his former stomping ground as a lecturer, but in many ways his audience was also older, more seasoned attorneys currently practicing in court.
With his words, he threw down the gauntlet to them as well, while drawing a line in the moral sand between his office and the rest of the profession.
In a month that has seen what statistics suggest was the bloodiest week of 2025, few might wish to challenge the AG’s gloomy assessment of a near-complete “absence of law,” a lack of “balance and order” and a murder rate that exceeds “practically every territory in the world.” Consistently do we rank among the top ten global homicide rates per 100,000 inhabitants. In April, Mr Jeremie had declared on a political platform that the country was a “failed state.”
But the AG’s unflinching gaze, at a time when police top brass and others are boasting about bringing numbers down, marks him out as unusual among politicians, who tend to tell only stories of rapid progress. His veneration before the students of due process, “immutable” legal principles, fundamental rights and the rule of law also arguably sets him apart from others within the Kamla Persad-Bissessar cabinet.
Underlining the tension between politics and professionalism inherent in the role of AG, Mr Jeremie’s speech presents a tantalising preview of what could be to come in his tenure. It underlines what seems to be his belief in the centrality of lawyers within the justice system. That is no small thing given his history. The UNC AG, who twice previously served in the role under PNM administrations, has never shied away from standing apart from the legal profession, having once denigrated wine and cheese Hall of Justice events and also having been the subject of Law Association censure over his role in several scandals. In the coming months, he may well show just how far outside of the profession he will stand in his latest incarnation, if at all.
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