Caribbean News Now!

by Oscar Ramjeet

The legal fraternity in the Caribbean is mourning the loss of Professor A. Ralph Carnegie, the legal luminary who taught nearly all the lawyers who qualified in the Caribbean, including chief justices, judges, attorneys general, and prime ministers Dean Barrow of Belize and Tillman Thomas of Grenada.

Professor Emeritus Carnegie was attached to the Faculty of Law at Cave Hill Campus from its inception 40 years ago. At the time of his death on Friday he was the longest serving member. He contributed to every aspect of the faculty's development: as dean, director of many courses both at the LL.B and the LLM levels, executive director of the Caribbean Law Institute, its foremost constitutional lawyer and its foremost advocate outside the corridors of the Faculty of Law.

Oscar Ramjeet is an attorney at law who practices extensively throughout the wider Caribbean

He represented the faculty and the university on many local, regional and international bodies and was well respected by all who heard his contributions.

Like thousands of others, I am proud to say that he taught me constitutional law at Cave Hill Campus.

Professor Velma Newton, who is the current Dean of Faculty of Law at UWI, said that "outpourings of sympathy are being received from his former students and colleagues located in every corner of the Commonwealth Caribbean. Many of them, like us who would have seen him more frequently, cannot believe that we will no longer hear of the projects on which this brilliant and multi-talented scholar is working and marveling at his tremendous energy, hear his balanced contributions at university meetings or hear his hearty laugh over a good joke."

The UWI recognized his sterling contribution and on May 24, 2007 renamed the former Law Lecture Theatre at Cave Hill, the A. Ralph Carnegie Lecture Theatre. The Council of Legal Education has also issued a statement expressing condolences and bar associations throughout the region have sent out emails to all their members on the Jamaican-born Rhodes scholar's passing, who has undoubtedly done a tremendous job, not only as the expert on constitutional law, but he has certainly created an indelible impression on all his students, some of whom have excelled in the profession.

Belize senior counsel, Michael Young, in response to the circular sent by the secretary of the Belize Bar Association, Melissa Balderamos-Mahler, said, "I remember Professor Carnegie very well, though it was some 34 years ago I attended his constitutional law lectures. I thought he was irrefutably brilliant and also pleasant… quite striking yet a humble man."

I am certain all his former students would express similar sentiment as that of Michael.

Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to his widow Jeniphier, his sons Martin and David.

The funeral takes place on Tuesday January 18 at St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church.

May his soul rest in peace.

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Charmaine Pemberton:
One singular truism is that we must all leave this life, as we know it at some time. One thing that is certain however, is that we all leave when our time is "up" and above all when our God bestowed purpose has been fulfilled.

This marks the life of this great man. He had to leave us, but he has left us having fulfilled that purpose. For that, we are much richer than we can ever imagine.

It is now up to us, those who sat, as young persons in the Lecture Hall bemused and confused when we realised that the combination of words "common stroke mutual mistake" have a life of their own, and I daresay one of which we had no clue at that time; we, who discovered that there were "intricicies and niceities" associated with the Consititution of our various countries, to give life and breath to God's divine purpose.

Thank you God for that gift. Thank you family for allowing us to share that magnificant intellect that quiet, humble disposition and that shy smile (but sometimes with that mischievous chuckle) with us.

The Caribbean legal fraternity, Caribbean people and the world join to mourn your passing, PROFESSOR RALPH CARNEIGE.
R.I.P.

David Rowe:
Professor Carnegie was a great legal mind. The Caribbean has lost an irreplaceable asset.