On Professional Conduct and Professional Development… By Steve Sun
Professional “Conduct” as the name implies, has to do with those things, which members of any given profession have to be mindful of, so as not to bring the profession into disrepute.
A male lawyer for instance, can sleep with his female client even if she’s married. This type of conduct is certainly morally condemnable but will not be classified as professional misconduct.
Recently, there was actually a case of a female lawyer who was doing a divorce matter for her female client and then went ahead to marry the ex-husband of her female client immediately after the divorce. One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure indeed.
If a male gynaecologist on the other hand, sleeps with his patient, whether she’s married or not and whether it’s consensual or not, he can land himself in serious trouble with the authorities, including of course the MDCN.
Conversely, if a sick patient gives five thousand dollars in cash to his medical doctor for safekeeping and along the line, the doctor uses $1k for an emergency; he can always return the money to his patient later and it won’t be a problem; but as a lawyer, you dare not tamper with your client’s money which happens to be in your possession! You could get yourself disbarred.
Upskilling or CPD on the other hand, has nothing to do with professional conduct as Chief Ozekhome SAN recently opined in his well-considered treatise.
Incorporating the so-called MCPD into our Rules of Professional Conduct is therefore evidently ultra vires the powers of the NBA and/or the GCB; and we shall soon be asking the FCT High Court to so hold.
There is however a bifurcation of the Legal Profession unlike the medical profession. There is the Bar and there is the Bench.
Of course an incompetent lawyer can do irreparable damage to a case, but if a client realizes that a lawyer is incompetent, such incompetent counsel can be debriefed and a more competent lawyer will take over; but if a litigant realizes that a Judge is incompetent, there’s little or nothing that can be done. You can only apply for reassignment or recusal on grounds of bias and not on grounds of perceived incompetence.
An incompetent Judge is therefore a serious danger to the general public, unlike an incompetent lawyer.
That is why Niki Tobi, Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria (of blessed memory) stated that the law is the Judge’s clientele.
The full quote goes as follows: _There are times when counsel ask for a relief with the full knowledge that the law is not on the side of his client. In such a situation, counsel merely tests the legal strength of the Judge, who in his capacity as the unbiased umpire and master and expert of the law, should give judgment according to the law. While the parties are the clients of the lawyers, the law is the Judge’s, clientele and constituency and he must apply it properly without fear or Favour. That is the oath he took on the day he was sworn in as a Judge qua judex._ See Inakoju & Ors,. v. Adeleke & Ors. (2007), 4 NWLR (Part 1025) 423.
The point being made therefore is that Mandatory Continuing Professional Development should be for the bench and not for the Bar.
While CPD should be encouraged for the Bar, it should be mandatory for the Bench, because a lot could go wrong when society is confronted with Magistrates, Judges and Justices who are not very competent. Because why should some Justices now upend the Marriage Act by suggesting that the Act allows polygamy for Muslims?
NO, IT DOESN’T!
The NBA as a major stakeholder in the justice sector, should therefore channel its energy and resources towards strengthening the National Judicial Institute, (NJI) so that our courts (especially our superior courts) can be armed with the much needed requisite expertise and so that they can evolve with the times and not be left behind.
Of course we all know that the NBA’s aggressive push for the so-called MCPD, obviously has to do with beefing up their revenue stream and nothing more!; nevertheless, it’s important to x-ray the legal arguments for the unsuspecting members of the legal profession and indeed for the benefit of the unsuspecting members of the general public.
Let lawyers breathe.
Thanks for your attention.
Steve Sun
President/Founder, ADLAW.
