The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Bar Association’s president yesterday denied that the organisation is “xenophobic”, indicating it would not necessarily oppose the Government’s bid to hire a foreign Value-Added Tax (VAT) ‘legal consultant’.

Elsworth Johnson told Tribune Business that the Bar, and its members, were not opposed to foreign attorneys entering the Bahamas to practice if the specialist skills needed were not available in this nation.

Pointing out that the Legal Profession Act was “sufficiently flexible” to allow this, Mr Johnson said the Government’s decision to seek VAT legal expertise abroad fell into this category, and was effectively “an Immigration matter”.

He reaffirmed, though, that the Bar Association would “most vehemently defend” its members’ rights to have first shot at any legal job openings that came up, and for which Bahamian attorneys were qualified.

And the Bar president suggested that a condition of allowing foreign attorneys to practice in the Bahamas should be that they ‘transfer their knowledge’ by training local attorneys.

He described recent comments by Ryan Pinder, minister of financial services, as “absolutely shocking”, arguing that he was not defending Bahamian attorneys’ interests in calling for the legal profession to be ‘opened up’ to overseas practitioners.

Mr Johnson was speaking after Tribune Business disclosed to him that the Government’s Ministry of Finance was looking abroad for VAT legal expertise.

This newspaper has obtained a copy of an advert in the Trinidadian press, which states that the Bahamian Ministry of Finance is seeking a VAT ‘legal consultant’ with at least five years’ experience in advising government revenue authorities on the tax and Customs-related matters.

The Ministry is offering a two-year contract, which involves providing advice on VAT and Customs matters to the Minister of Finance and financial secretary.

Other job requirements include preparing legal opinions on VAT and Customs-related matters for the director of legal affairs, and “co-ordinating litigation on behalf of the VAT unit before a Tribunal, with appeals to the Supreme Court”.

And, perhaps crucially, the successful recruit will be required to “train, supervise and mentor” other legal officers within the Government’s VAT unit.

John Rolle, the Ministry of Finance’s financial secretary, did not return a Tribune Business call seeking comment. However, it seems to have decided that since VAT is ‘brand new’ to the Bahamas, the necessary legal expertise does not reside here.

Mr Johnson told Tribune Business he was unaware whether the Bar had been “canvassed” about this post, and the availability of legal expertise in this area.

However, indicating that the Bar would not necessarily object to the Government looking overseas, he added: “To my mind, as I’ve said over and over again, it’s an Immigration matter.

“Most certainly, in the best interests of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, where the necessary expertise is proven not to exist, for the good of the country we have to look elsewhere.”

Mr Johnson said foreign legal specialists were already permitted to practice in the Bahamas on specific cases, where sufficient local expertise did not exist.

“I think the Legal Profession Act is sufficiently flexible to allow cross-border practice,” he told Tribune Business.

“The Bar is saying that where we have this expertise, we will most vehemently defend our members’ rights to take advantage of these opportunities.”

Several prominent attorneys, including Brian Moree QC, Sean McWeeney QC and Bryan Glinton, have joined Mr Pinder in calling for the Bahamian legal profession to ‘open up’ to specialist foreign practitioners, arguing that this would spur financial services industry growth by helping to attract new business.

Successive Bar Association presidents have rejected such calls, but Mr Johnson effectively sent the message that the organisation is not the ‘closed shop’ some portray it to be.

He said he was opposed to the ‘wholesale’ opening up the Minister had called for (Mr Pinder did not urge this), but the Bar was neither “xenophobic” not opposed to competition.

“What I find absolutely shocking about the Minister’s comments is that all around the world, because of austerity, governments are trying to protect the interests of their people,” Mr Johnson told Tribune Business. “They’re not trying to swing the doors wide open.”

Adding that there was “nothing wrong” with the free movement of skills, Mr Johnson said it could not be that “the only value” of Bahamians was when they voted every five years.

“We’re not xenophobic by any stretch of the imagination,” he told Tribune Business. “At the end of the day, all of us have an innate obligation to build the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, not dismantle it.

“We’re not afraid of competition. I just think the Minister’s misguided in his thrust to throw the doors wide open.”

Mr Johnson said that it should be stipulated in work permits, and agreements to hire foreign specialists such as the VAT ‘legal consultant’, that they have “an obligation” to train their Bahamian replacement. The renewal of such agreements, he added, should be contingent on this.

“Our most precious resource is our human capital,” Mr Johnson said.