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13.02.2018
Lawyers Name Bribery of Judges As Biggest Threat to the Legal Profession This is a Report of a Survey carried out in 2017 by Professor Ernest Ojukwu, SAN, among a cross section of Nigerian Lawyers, on the top ethical issues which they want to be tackled in the legal profession, in order to achieve improvements in the profession
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awyers in Nigeria, have identified bribery of judges, as the biggest threat that needs to be tackled as a matter of urgency in the legal profession. This is the result of a survey carried out among a cross section of Nigerian lawyers between May and October, 2017, and presented in a report dated 23rd January, 2018 titled, Response Of Nigerian Lawyers On Top Ethical Issues They Want Tackled In The Legal Profession, which was submitted to the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, by Professor Ernest Ojukwu, SAN. Purpose of the Survey The report states that, the recent survey was conducted with the purpose of determining the most critical ethical issues confronting the legal profession in Nigeria, in response to the rallying cries of numerous members of the legal profession whom he encountered in the process of conducting a number of sensitisation workshops on the Rules under the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, and other ethics workshops under the auspices of the NBA Academic Forum and NBA Branch programmes. The report states that, these programmes and workshops afforded lawyers the opportunity to table their complaints, and consequently, have through the years listed many ethical challenges facing the legal profession, which he also collated as examples of indiscipline and ethical challenges at the Bar, as stated by practitioners, public servants and members of the public, which are all in the public domain at this time. As a step towards a practical dissection of the problems, the survey was designed to determine the response of lawyers to tackling ethical challenges within the profession, in order of priority. The study presents the benefit for both lawyers as well as nonmembers of the legal profession, as it first gives lawyers an opportunity to give voice to their concerns in relation to ethical challenges within the legal profession. This, in turn, would create openness and transparency which will build trust among members and consumers of legal services. People and organisations, will also be ready to assist the legal profession to begin to solve the problems, and consequently, the legal profession and its leadership would be equipped with a tool to work with, at deploying its resources towards tackling the ethical challenges. How the Survey was Conducted The study was limited to the perceptions of lawyers from all sectors and from all geographical zones. Data for this study, were collected using a survey form developed by the reporter. The list of ethical issues listed in the survey form, was based on the experience and research of the reporter, who was for more than ten years, deeply involved in the drafting of the Rules of Professional Conduct for legal practitioners. The survey presented a list of 45 ethical challenges and issues, and each respondent was asked to pick five ethical issues they wished the Bar to tackle immediately. The findings aggregated, resulted in the discovery that the top 5 ethical issues or challenges they want tackled by the Bar or the legal profession are as follows: 1. Bribery of Judges: 190 responses (6.94%) 2. Delay tactics in court/using litigation as an instrument of delay/delayed trials/
filing of frivolous applications to delay trials or executions or proceedings: 182 responses (6.65%) 3. Bribery of court personnel for processes: 176 responses (6.43%) 4. Lawyers’ active role in disobeying court orders/blocking enforcement of orders and judgements: 149 responses (5.44%) 5. Rudeness to other colleagues/Impolite attitude: 149 responses (5.44%) These 5 ethical issues raised in the study, have been determined critical as found by the study and ranged from nearly 7 percent to about 5 percent, out of the total of the 45 ethical issues delineated in the survey form. A close few other ethical issues raised also include: lawyers advising disobedience to court orders- 120 responses (4.38%); litigating of every matter even when ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) should have been advised or used- 109 responses (3.98%); lack of transparency in NBA accounting- 107 responses (3.91%); Not following simple court etiquette/ Disorderliness in court- 104 responses (3.8%); and Selling grades to law students;/Receiving money from law students to influence results- 83 responses (3.03%). Never has the ethical conduct of a body of professionals been critical to the well-being of a nation, as the ethical conduct of the legal profession. Following a general discontentment about the status quo, members of the legal profession have articulated their concerns at various levels of the profession. There have been calls for the legal profession, especially the Bar, to look inwards and tackle or stem the tide of indiscipline and unethical conduct among its members. The report stated that, at a workshop organised by the Nigerian Bar Association, in collaboration with the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) in Abuja in July 2016, the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Mahmud Mohammed through Hon. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, was reported to have urged members of the Bar to examine themselves, with a view to developing workable ways to curb corruption, and charged them to look inwards as individuals in the system, and collectively as a body, to improve the legal system. This is one among many calls, for an examination of the case of unethical conduct and indiscipline, among members of the legal profession. The legal profession might have an opportunity to change the face of its body in the near future, as long as it is responsive to its needs to address the ethical issues presented by members of its body. The NBA itself, is critical to realising the greater objective of a transparent and trustworthy legal profession, and must also be the first to determine and implement solutions to the issues raised in this study. In the end more than hope is required, but more so the dogged insistence of the legal profession to revivify itself, and in so doing, the nation at large.
“THERE HAVE BEEN CALLS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION, ESPECIALLY THE BAR, TO LOOK INWARDS AND TACKLE OR STEM THE TIDE OF INDISCIPLINE AND UNETHICAL CONDUCT AMONG ITS MEMBERS”