Abstract:
Just like a nation, no professional body should exist without laws to guide its affairs. Professional bodies should have a code of ethics to preserve their integrity and character. Anyone who argues in the contrary is not being truthful to reality or simply put he must have lived in the times of Hammurabi where Anarchy and lawlessness was preferred to the rule of law. Such arguments shouldn’t be allowed to have a place in a civilized society like ours because it simply implies that; a professional body, a state, a court of law as the temple of justice should function anyhow. It would imply Legal practitioners should practice their profession without taking the oath of fidelity as a condition precedent for enrollment into practice OR that medical practitioners shouldn’t take the medical deontology oath before being admitted into practice. These suggestions would be delusional as such it’s my fervent opinion that a code of ethics is required for every profession. Consequently, each of these sectors should have one. Namely; the legal, medical, teaching, banking, the police and Army, public and private sectors, NGOs, the business world, in sports, music, entertainment etc. The proceeding paragraphs will therefore elucidate the reasons why it is paramount for every professional body to exist with a code of ethics with strict emphasis on the legal profession as a case study of our discourse.
To start with, the code of ethics is a fundamental requirement for the existence of the Legal profession. Ethics is a necessary foundation to guide the conduct of the profession. Without ethics, the legal profession will be difficult if not impossible to function. It allows legal practitioners to know what is expected of them as acceptable behavior and provides substantial guidelines on how to carry out their duties. In the Gambia, there are laws that lay the foundation of legal
practice to wit; the legal practitioners Act (LPA) 2016, the code of conduct for legal practitioners 2011, the code of conduct for public officers , the Judges Act Cap 7.09 , other statutes and relevant case laws. Section 4(1) of the LPA stipulates the functions of the General Legal Council to; regulate the legal profession, admission to legal practice, “uphold standards of professional conduct”. And in its Section 39 stipulates inter alia that the council shall prescribe rules for standards of professional etiquette and professional conduct for legal practitioners. Walter S.N Onnoghen JSC delivered a lead judgment in the appeal case of ANAMELECHI ITOEGU Esq. v The LPDC , while maintaining the judgment of the LPDC that counsel was liable to pay the sum of N9.5 000.000 to his client Bishop N.J Antigha and that his name be struck off the roll. It’s fair enough to state here that the legal profession cannot function without a code of ethics because the above laws ipso facto serve as a prima facie justification.
Secondly, a code of ethics creates a necessary framework by which Legal practitioners can build on their moral values and professional competencies. The code can build a moral attitude for legal practitioners to discharge their functions with honour, dignity and without any fear or favor. The code of conduct for example stipulates in section 3(1) and (2) that; the object of this code is to restate standards of professional etiquette and conduct for legal practitioners and applies to them to hold themselves out as practicing law in the Gambia as a barrister or solicitor or both. Therefore anyone who practices law within the courts of the Gambia must abide by the code of conduct else shall face unreparrable consequences and damage to his/her profession. The code helps them fulfill their primary duty to Clients and the court as held by Tobi JCA (as he then was) in the
Nigerian case of GENERAL OIL LTD. V ODUNTAN that “counsel qua advocates as Ministers in the Temple of Justice, owe both their clients and the courts a duty, a professional duty to assist the court in the course of their advocacy”.
Lord Denning MR in the English case of RONDEL V WORSELEY explained that “…The code which requires a barrister to do all this is not a code of law. It is a code of honour. If he breaks it he is offending against the rules of profession and is subject to its discipline…” The code of ethics is therefore a necessary key to success for every legal practitioner.
Furthermore, a code of ethics ensures the observance of Equity, justice and fairness within the profession. A code of ethics has the potency to act as an effective countervailing power to restrain legal practitioners within the ambits of the laws guiding practice. The Judges Act for example provides for an Ethics committee to investigate complaints of breach of the code and matters connected with the functions of the judge qua interpreter of the laws. The code confines the judge to exercise his functions judicially and judiciously. Only code of ethics can ensure that the legal practitioner observes the cap rank rule and avoid conflict of interest because where he fails he might be reprimanded for professional misconduct. In the Sierra Leone case of Re C.B Rogers Wright a legal practitioner was cited with professional misconduct as he inter alia accepted three different sets of clients with what he knew or should have known were conflicting interests. He was found guilty and his name struck off the roll.
In addition, Good ethics promotes dignity, confidence, trust and goodwill in the profession. It builds integrity and trust between the public and the professional body. One starts to experience a number scandals and disciplinary issues where such a code did not exist. That is why the code of conduct strictly enshrines in Section 8 that a legal practitioner shall at all times uphold the dignity, honour and high standing of the profession and shall desist from dishonest, unjust and disreputable life. Therefore, a lawyer will be estopped from violating the lawyer client privilege. In Horn v Richard , it was said that every client is entitled to feel safe when making disclosures to his solicitor or counsel.
Most importantly, a code of ethics serves as a watchdog to ensure discipline within the profession. A legal practitioner must understand that he owes loyalty to his conscience, his client, the court, his colleagues and the public and in each circumstance; he should be outstanding in the manner in which he relates to each of them. The Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee was put in place to ensure this is done. In the Gambia case of IGP v. OMAR D MBYE and Anor, the Disciplinary committee of the General Legal Council suspended Mr. Mbye from practice for five years after he was convicted by the courts for obtaining money from his client by false pretenses contrary to his code of conduct and punishable by law. Similarly, in the Nigerian case of NBA v. NDUKWE counsel collected N25000 on behalf of an old woman and refused to pay back in spite of repeated demands. He was discipline and suspended from practice for a period of 12 Months and also directed to pay back the amount. ESO JSC noted in the case of MGM Ltd v NSP Ltd that; a counsel who accepts a brief must endeavor to see it
through and not withdraw from the case on the grounds that there is no case especially after the brief has been perfected by his client. This is why the court held in the case of LEMBOYE v. OGUNSIJI that once money is placed in the hands of a lawyer for a particular purpose, there is an expressed trust reposed in him. The code therefore prevents a lawyer from collecting client’s money and not able to do the job as was the case in NBA v Ndukwe (supra).
CONCLUSION:
One can aptly assert that ‘what is good for the goose is good for the gander’. Therefore, what is good for the legal profession as a professional body should be good for other professions as earlier enunciated in the abstract. To ensure that every professional body functions properly just like our case study, it is appropriate to state that all professional bodies should have a code of ethics as a condition precedent to their existence. Meanwhile the motion that a professional body should exist without a code of ethics should be dismissed entirely and any arguments in support of the motion be considered flimsy and consequently declared null and void ab initio.
No comments:
Post a Comment