The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A LAW student has been granted permission by a judge to apply for a judicial review into the Eugene Dupuch Law School’s decision to have him repeat his first year at the institution.

Carl Fowler, of the Grantana Subdivision, had his lawyer Romona Farquharson-Seymour make an ex-parte summons to the Supreme Court concerning the school’s Council of Legal Education’s (CLE) decision to allegedly ignore that he had met the passing grade for a class that would allow him to advance to the second year of training.

Mr Fowler faced having to assume nearly $34,000 in tuition fees because the government does not fund the tuition of repeated years at the law school.

At a hearing before Justice Milton Evans on Tuesday, the judge not only granted Mr Fowler’s application for leave to apply for a judicial review into the matter, but he also ordered the CLE’s decision suspended until the disputed issue is resolved before the courts.

According to court documents obtained by The Tribune, the first year student had enrolled last September and was “given a copy of the Council of Legal Education Profession Law Schools Regulations 2012 that governs the three law schools (Hugh Wooding, Norman Manley and Eugene Dupuch) in the Caribbean.

“Sometime in June/July, I received an undated letter from the registrar of Eugene Dupuch Law School advising that I had not passed the requisite number of courses, therefore I would not be permitted to advance to year two,” Mr Fowler’s affidavit stated.

After writing to the registrar in July, he received a reply “advising that I would not be permitted to write two supplemental examinations in August (2015).”

He then received a transcript indicating that he failed three classes ,including legal drafting and interpretation, which he challenged after paying $54 for a review.

Upon review, he was awarded a pass and the review fee was refunded. Despite the development, “they have insisted on not allowing me to year two and to sit two relevant supplemental exams in August 2015.”

Mr Fowler argues that the council is “wrong in their interpretation of the regulations” and that the decisions and actions of the body “has caused (him) much distress and financial loss.”

The school’s Council of Legal Education will have 10 days to respond to the application once it is filed.