Student Receives Favorable Verdict in Supreme Court of Guyana Case

 

Congratulations to FSU Law LL.M. student Tamara Evelyn-Khan, who recently received a favorable verdict in a constitutional law matter in the Supreme Court of Guyana! On behalf of a client, Evelyn-Khan, who is an attorney-at-law in Guyana and the Eastern Caribbean, challenged the constitutionality of alimony legislation that has existed in Guyana since the early 1900s. The legislation in question barred men from approaching the court for alimony/maintenance. On February 12, Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire ruled that the legislation violated the constitutional rights of Evelyn-Khan's client, as it was discriminatory and denied him equality before the law. The ruling effectively struck down provisions of Guyana’s Matrimonial Causes Act, which provided that only men were liable to pay maintenance.

“Commonwealth Caribbean Constitutions generally contain fundamental rights provisions. Guyana is no exception,” Evelyn-Khan said. “In some instances, there is the mechanism of savings law clauses that strive to prevent the full realization of these rights. In this instance that did not happen, and the right to equality before the law prevailed, as guaranteed by the Constitution. The decision resonates in the Commonwealth Caribbean as an immensely progressive decision for human rights and Constitutional guarantees: this is certainly the general ethos conveyed to me by my colleagues at the bar in those jurisdictions.”

We are extremely proud of Evelyn-Khan and fortunate to count her as a member of our impressive LL.M. student body!