PM Provides Details of Law Courtenay Coye Law Contracts

Last week, News Five asked Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Chris Coye about the law contracts that the Prime Minister has awarded to the law firm of Courtenay Coye L.L.P.– owned by himself and Senator Eamon Courtenay. Prior to that, the P.M. had told the media that he hires reputable law firms to represent the government legally because the junior Crown Counsels at the Solicitor General’s office are not experienced enough to tackle senior attorneys in highly technical cases in court. So when the PM went ahead and hired Courtenay Coye L.L.P., the Opposition and the Public Service Union demanded to see the figures that were being paid to the law firm. There were factions that even called to see the letter that the law firm had written to the office of the Governor-General seeking exemption, allowed for members of the National Assembly and the Senate under Section sixty-four, two of the Constitution. U.D.P. Chair, Senator Mike Peyrefitte had written under the Freedom of Information Act for the details of these contracts to be revealed. The PM has released those figures. In a response to Peyrefitte dated June tenth, 2022, Prime Minister Briceño states that Courtenay Coye L.L.P. has received two hundred and twenty-seven thousand, eight hundred and forty-two dollars and fifty cents for which some of the matters are still ongoing in court. The letter speaks to the inclusion of copies of exemption letters issued by then Governor-General, Sir Colville Young granted to the law firm. There was another two hundred and twenty-four thousand dollars, seven hundred and forty-five dollars and seventy-three cents paid out to Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes in legal fees for legal work that are also still ongoing. The P.M. went on to point out legal fees that were paid out to law firms associated to former Prime Minister Dean Barrow which far exceed the amounts listed as payments to the two law firms listed above.