On October 28th, the Guyana Legal Aid Clinic presented the seventh and eighth Miles Greeves Fitzpatrick Prizes for Legal Aid.
The ceremony took place at the clinic’s Georgetown office.
A release from the clinic said that the prize – in the form of books to the value of USD500.00 – was established in 2019 in memory
of the late attorney Miles Greeves Fitzpatrick, a founder member and former director of the clinic and lifelong advocate for equal access to justice. The prize is awarded for the best performance in legal aid by a Guyanese student at the Hugh Wooding Law School.
The winner of the prize for the 2024/2025 academic year was Rodley Mathoo and for the 2025/2026 academic year, Reanna McCurchin.
The presentation was made by Fitzpatrick’s widow, Sultana Fitzpatrick, in the presence of Bishwa Panday, chair of the clinic’s board of directors, Shellon Boyce, managing attorney, other directors and attorneys with the clinic.
The release said that Mathoo is currently with the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions and McCurchin is a state counsel with the Ministry of Legal Affairs.
In remarks following the presentation, McCurchin said that she hoped to leave her mark and give back as Mr. Fitzpatrick had done. Mathoo said that at the time he was informed of the
prize he was not sure which legal path he would take, but that now that he is with the DPP’s Chambers, he had chosen Archbold on criminal proceedings and practice, which would last him a
lifetime. He said that he also hoped to emulate Mr. Fitzpatrick.
Previous recipients of the prize were:
Frances Carryl – 2018/2019
Anisah Muhammad – 2019/2020
Chandanie Dyal – 2020/2021
Reon Miller – 2021/2022
Cassandra Jaikarran – 2022/2023
Sheneza Clarke– 2023/2024
Discussion