by Bentry Ignatius Nyondo
Members of the legal profession are without doubt, and mark my words, so integral to the legal system and society as a whole. Lawyers, who have been said to be the vanguard of the development of not only law but also the society in general, play very pivotal roles in representing members of the society in both contentious and non -contentious matters. The lawyer, in an adversarial system of adjudication like is the case with Malawi, is has so much to offer because the fate or success of a litigant wholly depends on the lawyer. If lawyers therefore, for want of care cause a decline in the (ethical) standard of professionalism expected on them, a serious blight will occur on the justice dispensation system and the society`s confidence in the legal system.
The profession of law has since antiquity been considered sui jeneris (a profession of honour), in that it requires a high sense of integrity in those concerned by it. Here, integrity means both personal and professional because the yardstick for ascertaining the lawyer’s worth is not Spartan or elastic. Suffice to say that the appropriate rendition of the phrase, sui jeneris, could actually mean that lawyers as individual – professionals are or, put a little different, should be people of honour and integrity by reason of being members of a profession of honour.
But what really make the legal profession, a profession of honour? The answer is simple. The law profession could never, as in ever be said to be a profession of honour or sometimes called a noble profession, but for legal ethics. Legal ethics (the Code of Honour), set and spell out the standards of professional behaviour and conduct for the lawyers and the stipulations of the code are as binding and regulatory on members of the law profession as Ten commandments are, on Christians. Legal ethics act as a hub of ensuring that lawyers conduct themselves ethically and professionally so that the trust and confidence of the society in the legal system is retained. Failure to venerate the tenets of the code of honour can actually cost a lawyer disbarment, which is analogous to the death sentence in criminal law. In Malawi, the Legal Education & Legal Practitioners Act LELPA (2018) governs and regulates general issues relating to lawyers and practice of the law. For example, under Section 38, the Act specifically make it an a criminal offence for a lawyer to embezzle client`s a money, and upon conviction the liable is liable to imprisonment for 10 years. It is worth noting that imprisonment penalty under the revised Act was not enshrined in the erstwhile Legal Education & Legal Practitioners Act. This is an apparent manifestation of the legislature`s worry and concern with ethics of lawyers and its determination to abate the instances of lawyers embezzling clients` money, considering that there has been a litany of them in Malawi and the instances have caused so much trepidation amongst members of the society.
In addition to the Legal Education & Legal Practitioners Act, there is also a Malawi Law Society Code of Ethics, made pursuant to the Act, which has specific provisions relating to the individual- professional conduct of lawyers in the practice of the law. Interestingly, in addition to the many stipulations relating to the lawyer`s conduct under the Code, a lawyer has a duty to ensure that he “does not act in a manner that weakens the public`s respect for the law and the justice system” pursuant to Chapter 1. On my part, I consider that a grund norm in the legal profession, analogous in scope of applicability to the greatest commandment- of love in Christianity. A lawyer who cares less to act in the manner that retains the public`s confidence in the law and the justice system has no reason not to embezzle client`s money and this is common sense, or let me say simple logic. If the lawyer, by reason of his unethical behaviour, fails to retain the public`s trust in the legal system, the public will also mistrust the lawyer and the legal profession.
It is without amusement that in modern parlance, the term ‘Lawyer’ has been associated with treachery because lawyers, as professionals, are thought to be larcenous and nefarious individuals willing to espouse ‘any’ cause worth a good price. Actually, the phrase ‘lawyers are liars’ has now become an old adage. The lawyer seems not to care anymore about venerating the code of honour. And the perennial problem has been that the lawyer, as a professional, unfortunately is so myopic and oblivious to realise that how he conducts himself both as an individual and professional has a serious bearing on the public`s perception about the legal system. The lawyer, thinks that just like any other ordinary sui juris (legal person), he too has the prerogatives to do whatsoever he wills in his private life so long it is not repugnant to the laws of the Republic. To put right, this wrong, the truth actually is that whether or not the lawyer`s ‘acts’ done in his private life are innocuous cannot be likened to the professional standard that is expected of him, from the public, as a minister of the legal and justice dispensation system. Whatsoever the lawyers does, counts and , matters to the public. The manner in which the lawyer generally deals with members of the public hinges on legal ethics and has bearing on the public`s perception about the law and the justice system.
It is very easy, or perhaps I should say inevitable, to argue that there is no correlation between ethics of the lawyer and the public`s trust in the legal system. This is untrue. The truth is that the layman has no real crue of the modus operandi of the legal system, and so he wholly depends on the lawyer. As such, if for example the lawyer whether recklessly or inadvertently misguides the layman on matters relating to the law and the layman is adversely affected by the misguidance, the layman is justified in trusting the law or indeed the legal system. The public looks at the lawyer as a reflection of the law and legal system because it is mostly only through the lawyer that the public is enjoined with the law and the legal system. Consequently, when the lawyer conducts himself in a manner that that brings dishonour to the society, the society`s confidence and trust in the law will be lowered because of the poor reflection proffered by the lawyer, who de facto and de jure is a minister and an ambassador of the law and the legal system . Sadly, when the public loses confidence and trust in the law and legal system, it will to resort carrying and doing their business outside the scope of the legal system. And when that happens, a serious blight will be occasioned on the good will of the framers of our Constitution of Malawi, who in their wisdom, provided for the right to justice and legal remedies.
Ethics of the legal profession matter because the law profession could not be said to be noble but for legal ethics. It is for this reason that since the enactment of the Legal Education & Legal Practitioners Act in 1965, for 53 years in Malawi, a person who has been has been disbarred was precluded from seeking re-admission to the Bar because it was thought that the public would be outraged if such a person was allowed to practice law again, and in the long run, the it would not be able to differentiate between a lawyer and a tinsmith, as professionals.
FEATURED WRITER:
Bentry Ignatius Nyondo is a student pursing a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) at Chancellor College – University of Malawi. He’s also a Junior Associate in the firm of Supedi & Company in Blantyre. He was born on 5th March 1997.
About the Author
