Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Mahmud Mohammed and other eminent lawyers have decried the falling standards in the profession and the increasing lack of discipline among lawyers and judges.
They suggested ways to halt the drift, including stricter enforcement of rules of professional conduct.
They spoke at a luncheon organised by the firm of SPA Ajibade and Co: Legal Practitioners, Arbitrators and Notaries Public, with the theme: The Future of Legal Practice in Nigeria: Regulation and Discipline in the legal profession.
The CJN, represented by Justice John Inyang Okoro believes lawyers should regulate themselves. One way to do so, he said, is to report erring lawyers without fear of repercussions.
“The issue of reporting is key. If you are aware of a senior lawyer doing something wrong, report him. It’s a serious matter. If we don’t report, others will come and take over and regulate us,” he said.
Okoro, who chaired the event, urged the NBA Disciplinary Committee to do more about rising cases of indiscipline among lawyers.
A life Bencher, Mrs Hairat Balogun, said law students should be taught ethics. “Ethics is not taught as a core subject to Law students. Ethics and discipline go together. They’re intertwined with morals,” she said.
According to her, judges also need to be highly disciplined to be able “to do justice even if heaven falls.” “We must learn to do the right thing.”
Some judges, she said, do not handle proceedings in their court with authority, while others exhibit laziness by adjourning ruling they could have given instantly. “Some judges don’t seem to be able to manage their courts,” she said.
Balogun said the bench can help enforce discipline by imposing more stringent costs against lawyers who waste time. “How can a lawyer go from Lagos to Abuja and get a cost of N20,000? That is still not good enough,” he said.
In response, Justice Okoro said the Supreme Court has once awarded N8million against a lawyer, to be paid personally by him.
Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Mr Onadeko, said law students are generally disciplined on campus but some of them change after being called to the Bar. He said indecent dressing is not tolerated in the Law School.
“You won’t see a law student not properly dressed, but you will see lawyers badly dressed,” he said, adding that lack of internship, in which young graduates set up law practice without passing through pupilage, is partly responsible for waning standards.
Onadeko said with the increasing number of lawyers, with 7000 joining the profession this year, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has more work to do. “NBA needs to strengthen its scope of surveillance,” he added.
On the number of law students produced annually, he said: “There seems to be no correlation between the number of those coming into the profession and the opportunities available. We need to find a meeting point between the number of lawyers we’re training and the needs of the nation,” he said.
However, Justice Okoro said lawyers who are paid peanuts by their seniors cannot afford to dress properly. “Is paying someone N10,000 not a misconduct,” he asked.
Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN) believes self-regulation is generally ineffective. “We need an independent regulator for the legal profession,” he said.
Urging the profession “to fight for” statutory regulation, he argued that the Disciplinary Committee may not be independent enough as it is made of lawyers who may have vested interests or against whom complaints are made.
Mr George Oguntade (SAN) thinks judges should also report erring lawyers to help sanitise the profession because “the court is he first point of call”. His comment followed a question by Justice Olatunde Oshodi of the Lagos High Court on whose duty is it to enforce discipline among lawyers. The judge believes it is primarily NBA’s responsibility.
Managing Partner of SPA Ajibade and Co, Dr Babatunde Ajibade (SAN) agreed that judges have a role to play in assisting lawyers towards a better profession.
He, however, disagreed with a suggestion that Senior Advocates should have a primary responsibility of monitoring other lawyers in court and reporting those who misbehave.
To him, SANs are not infallible and may need to be reported for misconduct themselves.
“Unless we take it up and report wrong conduct, the problems will persist,” Ajibade said.
The guest lecturer, Mr Harry Matovu (QC) of Brick Court Chambers, UK, said failure to report wrongdoing is unethical.
“Failure to report is in itself a breach of the rules,” he said.
A lawyer, Mr Fubara Anga, said the entire system of enforcing displine in the legal profession “has to be looked at again”.
He suggested a “systemic approach” in tackling a lack of discipline, which he said should begin at the Law School.
