NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (March 14, 2023)- Premier of Nevis, Hon. Mark Brantley has been selected as the featured alumnus for the Norman Manley Law School (NMLS) class of 1994 for the video series launched as a lead up to the institution’s 50th anniversary.
“I am truly honoured to have been asked to be the voice of the Norman Manley Law School class of 1994 as the law school celebrates its 50th anniversary. This is a real honour for Nevis and a little boy from Henley Part and Brown Hill,” the Premier expressed.
Hon. Brantley graduated from the Norman Manley Law School with a Legal Education Certificate of Merit, then the fourth such award in the institution’s history. He was featured in the March 03, 2023 edition of the NMLS “50 Weeks to 50!” series aired on YouTube, saying it was a privilege to have attended and graduated from the distinguished institution.
“I’ve always known I wanted to be a lawyer since I was a young boy…That appetite for law and that willingness to study law was always a part of me as a child…I think the opportunity at Norman Manley was life-changing for me. I met there some of the brightest minds in the region. I met some of the best professors and best tutors in the region, and we were exposed at a very high level to the work of the courts, both the high court and the court of appeals.
“I was absolutely delighted to be a student there so many years ago. Having graduated the Norman Manley Law School I’ve done law, gone on to practice law and now I find myself in the position as the Premier of Nevis and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly. It has prepared me in a very real way for a life in politics by allowing me the critical thinking that’s necessary, the cut and thrust of debate, and public speaking, and through those attributes that I developed and were honed at the Norman Manley Law School I think I’m in a much better place today,” he reflected.
The Honourable Premier, who began his second consecutive term as Leader of the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) in December 2022 used the NMLS video to encourage his fellow alumni to give back to the law school, to the students, to the development of the legal profession and legal training in the region.
“Whether through bursaries or scholarships or mentorship, whatever we can do, let us collectively decide that we will contribute as much as we can to ensure that the Norman Manley Law School and legal education in our region grow from strength to strength.”
The Norman Manley Law School, named after the late Hon. Norman Washington Manley K.C., first opened its doors to students in September 1973 with a mission to provide relevant, current and practical legal training and education to students, attorneys-at-law and the general public.
Located in Jamaica at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus, the NMLS has produced a cadre of luminaries in the legal profession, politics, and government office over its 50 years. According to the institution’s website, the ideal Norman Manley Law School graduate “is committed to championing social justice and the rule of law, ethical behaviour, service and the highest ideals of the legal profession”.