Fair sentence for Isat Buchanan
Published:Saturday | December 9, 2023 | 12:07 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
The disciplinary committee of the General Legal Council (GLC) has sanctioned Attorney-at-law Isat Buchanan by suspending him from practising law for a period of two years and a monetary fine of $500,000. There have been a plethora of comments relating to the sentence handed down by the GLC, though some are quite misguided, ill-informed and puerile in thought and understanding.
It is my view that the two-year suspension for Buchanan is appropriate, warranted and fair, based on what he did as it relates to those putrid, nasty and disgraceful comments that he made against the director of public prosecutions and the justice minister. It is of paramount importance that the high integrity of the legal profession be maintained consistently and when breaches of the canons of the profession are committed harsh sanctions must be levelled against the person in this case an attorney-at-law. At no time must the legal profession be brought into disrepute, and shame and unfortunately that that happened because of Buchanan’s comments against those two high-ranking officials.
Clearly, a strong, firm and clear message has been, if other lawyers accused of the same offences, they will be severely punished. I commend the members of the disciplinary committee of the General Legal Council for handing down a fair, balanced and appropriate suspension sentence against Buchanan. I hope that he has learnt positively from his mistakes. Buchanan is a talented, brilliant and astute-thinking lawyer; I wish him well. Brilliant minds learn significantly from their mistakes and never makes them again.
FRANK MANBORDE
President,
Jamaica United Local
Government Representatives
Association,
Grange Hill PO, Westmoreland