Two weeks ago, the Big Brother Nigeria reality TV show
ended, and one youth (who may or may not be lazy, depending on how
you look at it) has emerged N25 million naira richer.
Also newsworthy, but maybe not as much as the Big Brother
finale: the 113 plus Chibok girls still in captivity along with
Leah Sharibu; the Benue people still being killed; Lai Mohammed
still being Lai Mohammed; Senator Dino Melaye doing Jackie
Chan-like stunts; thugs casually visiting the National Assembly;
and oh yes, Buhari still remains our president.
Yes, all those take second place to Big Brother; such is the
power of mindless reality TV shows. Personally, I have never
understood what the fascination is with the Big Brother show, and I
never will.
Now you might be wondering what the correlation is between the
topic above and Big Brother? Well to those who were regular viewers
of the show and are lawyers, such might be obvious; but to others
like myself who couldn’t be bothered about it, but were forced to
receive updates and information on it thanks to social media and
the show’s numerous fans, that link might not be so obvious. The
link between the two is none other its ex housemate, Cynthia
Nwadiora aka Cee-C. Still not clear? A little background then.
Cynthia Nwadiora aka Cee-C is, presumably, a lawyer. That is all
the background you need.
This article aims to look at the propriety or otherwise of
conduct of persons who are presumably practising lawyers, in
relation to the relevant sections of the Legal Practitioners Act .
Our case study on this discourse will be Cee-C.
“Facts”
We will be working on a set of presumptions. This is solely
because of the fact that I don’t personally know Cee-C, and thus I
cannot factually speak about anything concerning her; inference and
presumptions will only be made here.
Our chief presumption and the foundation of this discourse is
that the now ex Big-Brother housemate is a lawyer. I say
presumption because I don’t know for a fact that she is one, but
all the information from social media and news outlet claim that
she is learned. Till it is rebutted, Cynthia Nwadiora aka Cee-C is
a lawyer.
Our next step now is the question: when was she called to the
Nigerian Bar?
Her year of call will help in achieving the goal of this
article: an earlier year of call will bring about a different
analysis from a later one. So, for the sake of this article, we
will presume, again, that she was called sometime before she
entered for the Big Brother reality show. Let’s say some 4 years
before; so, 2014 would be her year of call,
hypothetically.
Next is the crucial question: what was Cee-C doing in the ‘4
years’ since she was called to the Nigerian Bar? Was she a
practising lawyer, or was she engaged in some other
profession? Again, we must presume here. Let us go with the former
supposition, i.e., that she was a practising lawyer. Let us also
presume that she was practising up to the moment before she got
into the Big Brother house.
Now that we have all our ‘facts’ in place, let us take
stock:
– Cee-C is a lawyer
– Cee-C was called to the Bar in 2014
– Cee-C was a practising lawyer before getting in the Big
Brother House
Now let’s look at the law in relation to this topic.
The Law
The relevant law to this discourse is the Legal Practitioners
(LPA) (Amendment) Act 1994, with specificity to its section 12
(2).
Section 12 (2) states that:
“Where a person whose name is on the roll is judged by the
Disciplinary Committee to be guilty of misconduct not
amounting to infamous conduct, which in the opinion of the
Disciplinary Committee is incompatible with the status of a legal
practitioner, the Disciplinary Committee may, if it thinks
fit give such direction as is authorised by paragraph (c) (II) or
(III) of subsection (1) of this section…”
I have highlighted the relevant portion of that section to our
discussion.
To my unlearned friends, the above section is simply saying that
where the disciplinary body of our profession finds any lawyer to
be guilty of conduct which they judge to be unbecoming of a legal
practitioner, such a lawyer will be punished either by being
suspended from practising law for a period of time, or by being
admonished by the body [section 12 (1)]. Pretty straightforward
right? Alas, like with all things law, it isn’t so, and there are
complications.
To understand these complications, one must first of all
understand the true meaning of the section. And to do this,
reference must be made to subsection (1) (a) of the same section
12. Section 12 (1) (a) states:
“Where a person who is a member of the legal profession
is judged by the Disciplinary Committee to be guilty of infamous
conduct in any professional respect…”
The phrase “… infamous conduct in any professional respect”
simply means conduct rendered in a professional capacity, which is
at variance with the rules and norms of the profession; it seeks to
ensure that lawyers act uprightly while rendering their
professional services. In the case of NBA v Alabi (2006)
14 NWLR (Pt. 1000) 841, the Disciplinary Committee defined the
phrase to mean “infamous conduct in any professional respect is an
act or omission which in the opinion of the Legal Practitioners
Disciplinary Committee is such that will bring the legal profession
into disrespect.” In that case, the lawyer in question failed to
remit to his client money given to him for the client. In another
case, Chike v LPDC (2005) 15 NWLR (Pt. 1026) 1, the lawyer
misappropriated money given to him for his client. Such was held to
be an infamous conduct in a professional respect. In several other
cases, the Committee ruled against lawyers who acted unscrupulously
in their professional dealings.
Now that we know that section 12 (1) (a) has to do with the
lawyers’s conduct in their professional capacity, we turn
back to section 12 (2). This section is the direct opposite of
section 12 (1) (a). This is so because its provisions make no
reference to conduct in a “professional respect,” rather the
conduct which it seeks to prohibit is that which “is incompatible
with the status of a legal practitioner.” What would then amount to
such conduct? Unfortunately, the Act does not specify; it leaves
that question unanswered and open to one’s discretion, and there
lies the problem. Our case law is also rather lean in this respect,
as most of the disciplinary cases have bordered on conduct in a
professional respect (I found none which touched on conduct
incompatible the status of a legal practitioner.) Despite the
dearth of materials on this issue, I will refer to the
textbook, Law In Practice in Nigeria (Professional Ethics and
Skills) 2nd Edition by A. Obi Okoye, for a better
understanding of such conduct as stated under section 12 (2). In
pages 384 and 385 under the heading “Conduct not amounting to
infamous conduct, but which is incompatible with the status of a
legal practitioner,” the author lists out certain types of
behaviour, that in his opinion may be held to be conduct
incompatible with the status of a legal practitioner. He mentions:
“the use of obscene language by a legal practitioner in public,
habitual drunkenness, fighting in public, seduction of a client or
his wife.”
We now know the law and its problem; we can now proceed to the
last part of this article.
Cee-C
Recall our earlier presumptions on Cee-C (stated above) under
the heading “facts,” that she is lawyer and she was a practising
one up until she entered the Big Brother house? Good.
I’m sure you can now see my destination with all this, but
before we arrive there, let us indulge ourselves in one more
presumption. For the sake of this discourse, let us presume that
Cee-C’s conduct in the Big Brother house was terrible and full of
shocking behaviour. In any case, the updates and reports on social
media during the show showed that this was the case. Still, as I
didn’t watch the show, I cannot confirm that.
With this last presumption and taking into consideration others
mentioned, the question then is: can section 12 (2) of the Legal
Practitioners (Amendment) Act 1994 be invoked against Cynthia
Nwadiora aka Cee-C?
Can her conduct in the house be sufficient grounds for the
Disciplinary Committee to try her, and if found guilty suspend her
from practising law or admonish her? Can Cee -C’s conduct in the
house be held to be conduct which is ‘incompatible with the status
of a legal practitioner?”
Unfortunately, I don’t have the answers to those questions. So,
I will leave them to you and the LPDC to ponder on.
Needless to say, it is obvious that section 12 (2) and other
sections of the Legal Practitioners Act need to be reviewed and
amended. There is currently a bill before the National Assembly
seeking to replace the existing Act, but I don’t know if it
contains an amendment to that section.
To my learned friend Cee-C: Not all of us were made to suffer
adjournments and the like… I applaud your hustling spirit. You know
what you want, keep chasing it!
I remain a Minister in the Temple of
Justice.
© L. Attoh Esq. [2018] All rights
reserved.
Two weeks ago, the Big Brother Nigeria reality TV show
ended, and one youth (who may or may not be lazy, depending on how
you look at it) has emerged N25 million naira richer.
Also newsworthy, but maybe not as
much as the Big Brother finale: the 113 plus Chibok girls still in
captivity along with Leah Sharibu; the Benue people still being
killed; Lai Mohammed still being Lai Mohammed; Senator Dino Melaye
doing Jackie Chan-like stunts; thugs casually visiting the National
Assembly; and oh yes, Buhari still remains our president.
Yes, all those take second place to Big Brother; such is the
power of mindless reality TV shows. Personally, I have never
understood what the fascination is with the Big Brother show, and I
never will.
Now you might be wondering what the correlation is between the
topic above and Big Brother? Well to those who were regular viewers
of the show and are lawyers, such might be obvious; but to others
like myself who couldn’t be bothered about it, but were forced to
receive updates and information on it thanks to social media and
the show’s numerous fans, that link might not be so obvious. The
link between the two is none other its ex housemate, Cynthia
Nwadiora aka Cee-C. Still not clear? A little background then.
Cynthia Nwadiora aka Cee-C is, presumably, a lawyer. That is all
the background you need.
This article aims to look at the propriety or otherwise of
conduct of persons who are presumably practising lawyers, in
relation to the relevant sections of the Legal Practitioners Act .
Our case study on this discourse will be Cee-C.
“Facts”
We will be working on a set of presumptions. This is solely
because of the fact that I don’t personally know Cee-C, and thus I
cannot factually speak about anything concerning her; inference and
presumptions will only be made here.
Our chief presumption and the foundation of this discourse is
that the now ex Big-Brother housemate is a lawyer. I say
presumption because I don’t know for a fact that she is one, but
all the information from social media and news outlet claim that
she is learned. Till it is rebutted, Cynthia Nwadiora aka Cee-C is
a lawyer.
Our next step now is the question: when was she called to the
Nigerian Bar?
Her year of call will help in achieving the goal of this
article: an earlier year of call will bring about a different
analysis from a later one. So, for the sake of this article, we
will presume, again, that she was called sometime before she
entered for the Big Brother reality show. Let’s say some 4 years
before; so, 2014 would be her year of call,
hypothetically.
Next is the crucial question: what was Cee-C doing in the ‘4
years’ since she was called to the Nigerian Bar? Was she a
practising lawyer, or was she engaged in some other
profession? Again, we must presume here. Let us go with the former
supposition, i.e., that she was a practising lawyer. Let us also
presume that she was practising up to the moment before she got
into the Big Brother house.
Now that we have all our ‘facts’ in place, let us take
stock:
– Cee-C is a lawyer
– Cee-C was called to the Bar in 2014
– Cee-C was a practising lawyer before getting in the Big
Brother House
Now let’s look at the law in relation to this topic.
The Law
The relevant law to this discourse is the Legal Practitioners
(LPA) (Amendment) Act 1994, with specificity to its section 12
(2).
Section 12 (2) states that:
“Where a person whose name is on the roll is judged by the
Disciplinary Committee to be guilty of misconduct not
amounting to infamous conduct, which in the opinion of the
Disciplinary Committee is incompatible with the status of a legal
practitioner, the Disciplinary Committee may, if it thinks
fit give such direction as is authorised by paragraph (c) (II) or
(III) of subsection (1) of this section…”
I have highlighted the relevant portion of that section to our
discussion.
To my unlearned friends, the above section is simply saying that
where the disciplinary body of our profession finds any lawyer to
be guilty of conduct which they judge to be unbecoming of a legal
practitioner, such a lawyer will be punished either by being
suspended from practising law for a period of time, or by being
admonished by the body [section 12 (1)]. Pretty straightforward
right? Alas, like with all things law, it isn’t so, and there are
complications.
To understand these complications, one must first of all
understand the true meaning of the section. And to do this,
reference must be made to subsection (1) (a) of the same section
12. Section 12 (1) (a) states:
“Where a person who is a member of the legal profession
is judged by the Disciplinary Committee to be guilty of infamous
conduct in any professional respect…”
The phrase “… infamous conduct in any professional respect”
simply means conduct rendered in a professional capacity, which is
at variance with the rules and norms of the profession; it seeks to
ensure that lawyers act uprightly while rendering their
professional services. In the case of NBA v Alabi (2006)
14 NWLR (Pt. 1000) 841, the Disciplinary Committee defined the
phrase to mean “infamous conduct in any professional respect is an
act or omission which in the opinion of the Legal Practitioners
Disciplinary Committee is such that will bring the legal profession
into disrespect.” In that case, the lawyer in question failed to
remit to his client money given to him for the client. In another
case, Chike v LPDC (2005) 15 NWLR (Pt. 1026) 1, the lawyer
misappropriated money given to him for his client. Such was held to
be an infamous conduct in a professional respect. In several other
cases, the Committee ruled against lawyers who acted unscrupulously
in their professional dealings.
Now that we know that section 12 (1) (a) has to do with the
lawyers’s conduct in their professional capacity, we turn
back to section 12 (2). This section is the direct opposite of
section 12 (1) (a). This is so because its provisions make no
reference to conduct in a “professional respect,” rather the
conduct which it seeks to prohibit is that which “is incompatible
with the status of a legal practitioner.” What would then amount to
such conduct? Unfortunately, the Act does not specify; it leaves
that question unanswered and open to one’s discretion, and there
lies the problem. Our case law is also rather lean in this respect,
as most of the disciplinary cases have bordered on conduct in a
professional respect (I found none which touched on conduct
incompatible the status of a legal practitioner.) Despite the
dearth of materials on this issue, I will refer to the
textbook, Law In Practice in Nigeria (Professional Ethics and
Skills) 2nd Edition by A. Obi Okoye, for a better
understanding of such conduct as stated under section 12 (2). In
pages 384 and 385 under the heading “Conduct not amounting to
infamous conduct, but which is incompatible with the status of a
legal practitioner,” the author lists out certain types of
behaviour, that in his opinion may be held to be conduct
incompatible with the status of a legal practitioner. He mentions:
“the use of obscene language by a legal practitioner in public,
habitual drunkenness, fighting in public, seduction of a client or
his wife.”
We now know the law and its problem; we can now proceed to the
last part of this article.
Cee-C
Recall our earlier presumptions on Cee-C (stated above) under
the heading “facts,” that she is lawyer and she was a practising
one up until she entered the Big Brother house? Good.
I’m sure you can now see my destination with all this, but
before we arrive there, let us indulge ourselves in one more
presumption. For the sake of this discourse, let us presume that
Cee-C’s conduct in the Big Brother house was terrible and full of
shocking behaviour. In any case, the updates and reports on social
media during the show showed that this was the case. Still, as I
didn’t watch the show, I cannot confirm that.
With this last presumption and taking into consideration others
mentioned, the question then is: can section 12 (2) of the Legal
Practitioners (Amendment) Act 1994 be invoked against Cynthia
Nwadiora aka Cee-C?
Can her conduct in the house be sufficient grounds for the
Disciplinary Committee to try her, and if found guilty suspend her
from practising law or admonish her? Can Cee -C’s conduct in the
house be held to be conduct which is ‘incompatible with the status
of a legal practitioner?”
Unfortunately, I don’t have the answers to those questions. So,
I will leave them to you and the LPDC to ponder on.
Needless to say, it is obvious that section 12 (2) and other
sections of the Legal Practitioners Act need to be reviewed and
amended. There is currently a bill before the National Assembly
seeking to replace the existing Act, but I don’t know if it
contains an amendment to that section.
To my learned friend Cee-C: Not all of us were made to suffer
adjournments and the like… I applaud your hustling spirit. You know
what you want, keep chasing it!
I remain a Minister in the Temple of
Justice.
© L. Attoh Esq. [2018] All rights
reserved.
Read more https://nairalaw.com/when-lawyers-bury-the-wig-and-gown-1-big-brother-and-the-lpa-by-lotanna-attoh/