A Senior Advocate Of Nigeria (SAN), Wole Agunbiade, has said It is the duty of a legal practitioner to devote his attention, energy and expertise to the service of his client and subject to any rule of law and act in a manner consistent with the best interest of the client.
Speaking while presenting a paper at the Law Week 2019 of Kaduna Branch of Nigerians Bar Association (NBA) on Tuesday in Kaduna, the sage said a legal practitioner shall exert himself, by all fair and honourable means, to put before the court all matters that are necessary in the interest of justice.
Wole Agunbiade, who presented a paper titled’ ‘Law and Morality: The Question of Offering Defence to Kidnappers and Terrorists; Where do we draw the line?’ emphasized that legal practitioner shall not stand or offer to stand bail for a person for whom he or a person on his law firm is appearing.
He stated that during the trial of any person for any offence, the defendant shall be entitled to conduct his case by a legal practitioner or in person, except in a trial for a capital offence or an offence punishable with life imprisonment.
“However, as legal practitioners, we need to answer some questions: can we sidestep the presumption of innocence enshrined in our Constitution for the benefit of any person accused of any offence, including kidnapping and terrorism?
“How do we deal with the constitutionally guaranteed right of every person, who is charged with a criminal offence, to defend himself in person or by legal practitioners of his own choice, especially when the offence attracts death sentence upon conviction?
“Are we to determine the truth or falsehood of any charge? Can it be said that we are indeed upholding the rule of law, promoting and fostering the course of justice, when we decide to withhold our services to defend persons accused of kidnapping or terrorism?
“Will a doctor, for instance, refuse to treat a person, who, in the course of allegedly committing terrorism, injured himself? People commit other crimes daily, but what a lot of people seem to consider or brood over is the proportionality or magnitude of kidnapping and terrorism as crimes
“Under the laws of Nigeria, a defendant in a criminal matter is entitled to defend himself or be defended by legal practitioners of his choice, notwithstanding the nature of the offence alleged against him. In fact, in capital offences, such as kidnapping and terrorism, the defendant must be represented by a legal practitioner and, if he does not have one, the court shall assign a legal practitioner to defend him.
“A legal practitioner’s duty to uphold and observe the rule of law, promote and foster justice necessarily spurs him to accept any brief to represent defendants in criminal trials, unless circumstances exist to prevent him from doing so,” he said
