Lawyers appear in more or less high-profile proceedings, gaining notoriety among the general public because journalists report on the high-profile cases. As a result, the activities of these lawyers can count on wide public interest e.g. lecturers and students at the university’s law faculty and publishers of legal journals. From time to time, our lawyers also appear in such cases.
Lawyers by virtue of their statutory duties have, since the origin of this profession also contributed to the perception of law-seeking individuals and to the formation of the legal order in which they practice.
This contribution is not limited to the national community. The international community also benefits from the actions of individual lawyers. A good example of this contribution can be found in the field of human rights. Indeed, lawyers also regularly bring cases before international human rights courts, and the decisions of these courts usually have universal effect. The process of forming the national legal order is also taking place in Suriname.
The lawyer, if he is to continue to make this contribution, must be well educated and is therefore obliged to continue training in order to keep up with developments in law and legal practice. Indeed, it is the duty of every lawyer to make maximum efforts so that those seeking justice (citizens, entrepreneurs, organizations and governments) can effectively experience the rights due to them.
In cases where legal rules fall short, it is the lawyer’s job to present to the judge, in addition to the facts and legal rules, other sources of law (case law and legal literature), so that he will be able to make a ruling in that particular case that does justice to the client’s case.
In our view, the process of lawmaking is not reserved for the judge. The judge does have the prerogative of ruling on law. Our lawyers are aware of the above-mentioned contribution and responsibility to the litigant.
To illustrate, the cases in which lawyers associated with Sewcharan & Pick have appeared and made a contribution as mentioned above, six court decisions are briefly highlighted. The names of the parties involved are fictitious or omitted for reasons of privacy.