Louis de Souza (barrister)

Louis Jessamy de Souza Aranha (1858-1889) was an outspoken West Indian barrister who challenged judicial excesses in British Guiana (current day Guyana).

Early life and education De Souza was born in Inagua, Bahamas, the son of Francis Jessamy Aranha, a businessman of Portuguese-Brazilian descent. Aged 16, De Souza travelled to Barbados to visit two aunts. Instead, he settled there and later went to work as a clerk at J. H. Fitt & Co.

In 1877, he travelled to London to study law, before joining Lincoln's Inn.

Legal career De Souza was called to the Bar of England and Wales on 11 May 1881.

De Souza applied for special leave to appeal his imprisonment to the Privy Council as the cases on which he commented were decided cases and, therefore, should not have been the basis for a contempt of court charge. The Privy Council granted leave and De Souza was released on 5 December 1888. However, he would not live to argue his case before the Court. He was only 30. His case raised ire over the misuse of judicial power and limitations on freedom of speech and freedom of the press because it suggested that no one could criticise a judicial decision even after a decision was handed down. His efforts would inspired reforms in judicial accountability and the passage of Contempt of Court Acts across the West Indies. The case has also been called "a landmark case in Guyana's legal history".

Personal life In 1886, De Souza married Gloucestershire-born Mary Peterson. His wife died in October 1888 while De Souza was imprisoned for contempt.

Physician Heal Thyself (1888): A commentary on the two cases in re De Souza, no. I., and re De Souza, no. II, for contempt of court: together with a few remarks on the administration of justice in British Guiana