Oscar D. Ramjeet is a Guyanese journalist and lawyer. He has served in a variety of positions throughout the Caribbean, including as

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

Solicitor-General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

from 2009 to 2011.

Career

Ramjeet began his career as an attorney in private practice in his native

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

in 1970. From 1986 to 1988, Ramjeet served in

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

as a magistrate as well as the Registrar of the High Court. Among other activities while there, he initiated a program to attempt to trace Canadians who purchased land at Spanish Point in the 1960s and 1970s. He took a trip to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

that year and was successful at finding thirty-two missing landowners. His career next took him to

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sometimes known simply as Saint Vincent or SVG, is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the south ...

, where he served as

Solicitor General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

and acting Director of Public Prosecutions. He remained there until 1993; the following year, he moved to the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

where he first served as Assistant Attorney General before becoming an

administrative law Administrative law is a division of law governing the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rulemaking (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regul ...

judge on Saint Thomas Island in 1997. In 2000, he moved to the

British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and north-west ...

and returned to private practice. One high-profile case he took on while there was the defence of Michael Spicer when he was charged with the murder of American model Lois McMillen in

Tortola Tortola () is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in ...

. Ramjeet was sworn in as Belize's Solicitor-General on 15 June 2009, filling the position that had been vacant for a year since the sudden departure of Tanya Herwanger after only five months on the job. Under his tenure, Belize began setting up the "Fast Track Court" in response to the increasing backlog of cases in the Magistrate's Court; the

Belize Bar Association Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

expressed concern over the heavy executive branch influence on the Fast Track Court, which they saw as threatening

judicial independence Judicial independence is the concept that the judiciary should be independent from the other branches of government. That is, courts should not be subject to improper influence from the other branches of government or from private or partisan inte ...

. He also lobbied the

Council of Legal Education The Council of Legal Education (CLE) was an English supervisory body established by the four Inns of Court to regulate and improve the legal education of barristers within England and Wales. History The council was established in 1852 by the Inns o ...

to permit the admission of Belizean

University of Guyana The University of Guyana, in Georgetown, Guyana, is Guyana's national and most prestigious higher education institution. It was established in April 1963 with the following Mission: "To discover, generate, disseminate, and apply knowledge of th ...

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

students to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

Norman Manley Law School The Norman Manley Law School is a law school in Jamaica. Building and location The Norman Manley Law School is located on the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, yet it is a distinct and separate institution. Its building, design ...

without the entrance exam; under a CARICOM-level agreement, the existing arrangement to facilitate UG graduates' entry to NMLS applied only to Guyanese nationals. He also oversaw the creation of the Office of International Legal Cooperation. He held the position of SG until his contract expired in 2011, and was succeeded by Cheryl Krusen.

Personal life

Ramjeet holds an LL.B. from the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...

, a Caribbean

Legal Education Certificate In the Commonwealth Caribbean, a Legal Education Certificate is a professional certification awarded to a person who has completed a course of study and training at a law school established by the Council of Legal Education. It was created by Art ...

, and a diploma in journalism and public relations from

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. He also writes articles and columns for the ''

Stabroek News The ''Stabroek News'' is a privately owned newspaper published in Guyana. It takes its name from ''Stabroek'' , the former name of Georgetown, Guyana. It was first published in November 1986, first as a weekly but it later changed to a daily pri ...

'' and other Caribbean newspapers. One column he wrote in 2010, about the visit of

President of Guyana The president of Guyana is the head of state and the head of government of Guyana, as well as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Republic, according to the Constitution of Guyana. The president is also the chancellor of the Orde ...

Bharrat Jagdeo Bharrat Jagdeo (born 23 January 1964) is a Guyana, Guyanese politician who has been serving as Vice President of Guyana since 2020, in the administration of President of Guyana, President Irfaan Ali. He had previously also held the office from 19 ...

to the

Afro-Guyanese Afro-Guyanese, also known as Black Guyanese, are generally descended from the enslaved African people brought to Guyana from the coast of West Africa to work on sugar plantations during the era of the Atlantic slave trade. Coming from a wide arr ...

village of

Buxton, Guyana Buxton is a village in the Demerara-Mahaica Region of Guyana, standing about midway between Georgetown and Enmore. History Buxton Village was founded in 1840 by a group of freed Afro-Guyanese, who purchased the former Plantation New Orange Nassa ...

, led

David Hinds David Hinds (born 15 June 1956) is a British musician and the founding member, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist for the Grammy-winning reggae band Steel Pulse. Life and career Hinds was born in Handsworth, West Midlands, Handsworth, Birming ...

to accuse him of racism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramjeet, Oscar Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century Guyanese lawyers Indo-Guyanese people Guyanese expatriates in Belize Solicitors-general of Belize University of the West Indies alumni 21st-century lawyers British Virgin Islands lawyers