Hannah Beatrice Harris Barrington
Allegation / charges
Suspended, Fined | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered February 01, 2023. || Guilty of Professional Misconduct | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered January 17, 2023. View PDF in Full Screen View PDF of Formal Order DECISION ON SANCTION OF THE DISCIPLINARY …
Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision
The Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council found attorney Hannah Harris-Barrington guilty of professional misconduct for breaching Canons 1(b), 5(a), 5(b), 5(c) and 8(b). She had published, by letter and through an affidavit filed in court, material amounting to a character assassination of the complainant (a senior K.C.) and impugning the integrity of a judicial officer without foundation, using a member of the public as a vehicle. The panel found numerous aggravating factors and no mitigating factors, noting her behaviour struck at the integrity of the justice system. No express finding of dishonesty was made. She was suspended for one year, ordered to pay JMD 150,000 costs to the GLC and fined JMD 500,000 payable to the complainant.
Duties found breached:
Aggravating factors:
- Respondent exacerbated the case against herself through her cross-examination
- Offending publications made both by letter and through an affidavit filed in court
- Affidavit of Michael Reckord conveyed information obtained from the respondent
- Launched a character assassination on a complainant of high professional standing (45 years in practice)
- Called into question the integrity of a judicial officer without any foundation or merit
- Used a member of the public as a vehicle and initially hid behind that person before being open about her actions
- Non-appearance despite extensive opportunity, showing scant regard for the proceedings