Legal luminary Sir Fenton dies at 89

Legal luminary Sir Fenton Ramsahoye QC who worked and lived in TT for many years, died in Barbados this morning.

He was 89.

Guyana-born Ramsahoye was that country's first attorney general and enjoyed a legal career throughout the Caribbean that spanned 59 years. He held the record among attorneys in the English-speaking Caribbean as having made the most appearances in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

In TT, his most famous case was the challenge by the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha of the use of the symbol of Trinity Cross, which was the country's highest national award. The State challenged the lawsuit right up to the Privy Council, which resulted in TT changing the award to the Order of TT.

Ramsahoye studied at London University, where he was awarded a BA in 1949, an LLB and LLM in 1953 and 1956 respectively. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn and was awarded a PhD in comparative land law from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1959.

Ramsahoye was at the forefront of the independence movement in Guyana. In 1961 he was elected an MP and was that country's first attorney general from 1961 to 1964. He was deputy director of legal education for the Council of Legal Education in the West Indies and head of the Hugh Wooding Law School from 1972 to 1975.

Ramsahoye was a member of the bars of England and Wales, Guyana, TT, Barbados, Jamaica, the territories of the Eastern Caribbean, including Montserrat, and the British Virgin Islands. He was the author of 'The Development of Land Law in British Guiana.

One of the several attorneys in TT with whom Ramsahoye worked with is former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, SC. In paying tribute yesterday, he said, "It is with immense sadness and a sense of deep personal loss that I bid the passing of Sir Fenton Ramsahoye, QC. I had the pleasure of appearing with him in numerous cases, especially in the Privy Council, where he was widely regarded and respected as the foremost advocate from the Caribbean region and an authority on constitutional law."

Ramlogan said, "Sir Fenton was the quintessential advocate who would be remembered for representing the poor and vulnerable in cases that transformed and shaped the law of personal injury, discrimination, insurance, human rights, payment of MP's salaries during the 18-18 deadlock in the House of Representative, election law and rights of dual citizenship. He was a legal genius whose ability was internationally respected."

Funeral arrangements have not yet been publicly disclosed.