Eight lawyers face disciplinary action

A committee that conducted hearings over gross acts of indiscipline and suspected criminal behaviour of some lawyers has recommended that eight should face disciplinary action over their alleged acts, Nation on Sunday has learnt.

The development follows an increase in media reports of rotten apples in the profession who are allegedly swindling clients out of their money.

Solicitor General (SG) and Secretary for Justice Janet Banda confirmed in an interview last week that after Malawi L a w S o c i e t y ( M L S ) disciplinary hearings, they recommended that the eight be suspended, disbarred or prosecuted. Banda, who chairs the MLS disciplinary committee by virtue of being SG, said chief among the reasons most lawyers faced the hearings include embezzlement of funds for clients.

Banda said: “We have had so many hearings in the past two years. I even signed a notice for publication in the papers of the list of lawyers in September who were found with a case to answer by the disciplinary committee and the penalties recommended to be pursued by the Attorney General in the court by way of discipline.

I did this in my capacity as chairperson. This is a requirement under the Rules of Procedure of the Disciplinary Committee. For your information, we have recommended disbarment of some lawyers and suspension for others.” She said among the eight lawyers, some have multiple complaints and in most cases, the disciplinary hearings recommended prosecution for embezzlement and reimbursement to the clients, in addition to suspension or disbarment.

“The purpose  of publication is to warn the public about taking legal matters to these lawyers who are considered hazardous and also to deter would be offenders [lawyers],” said Banda, who accused the society of not acting with speed on the matter.

MLS president John Suzi Banda in a written response dispelled fears that MLS is delaying the disciplinary process.

“All recommendations of the disciplinary committee are sent by the committee through the secretariat to the relevant authorities. For instance, recommendations for prosecutions are sent directly to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Recommendations for disbarment or admonition are sent to the honorable the Attorney General who then files the necessary applications in court. “

Directions f o r reimbursement of client funds are made directly to the offending legal practitioner and if he does not abide by the committee’s directive, the committee is notified for further action. There is no way the leadership of the MLS [myself included] would block or derail this process solving all outstanding disciplinary cases against its members,” said Suzi-Banda.

He said MLS has demonstrated commitment to ensuring discipline in the fraternity by hiring a lawyer on a full-time basis to be in charge of disciplinary matters at the secretariat.

Said Suzi-Banda: “We have facilitated [by way of funding and administrative support] meetings of the disciplinary committee to clear the backlog of cases.

Clearly, we have some way to go before we can conclude all cases, but at least we are recording progress being made. MLS has supported courts’ interventions which have led to over five members of society being admonished by the honourable the Chief Justice for practising without valid licences and in one case has led to the disbarment of a legal practitioner for abandoning his law firm for some years.

“Quite unprecedented in the history of the society, we have five matters pending before the courts in which the honourable the Attorney General is seeking the disbarment and/or the admonition of legal practitioners. All this has been possible because we have smoothened the disciplinary process and used our meagre resources to make sure those among us that misconduct themselves face the consequences of their misdeeds,” said Suzi-Banda.

He added MLS has also been recommending to authorities the prosecution of lawyers whose actions do amount to criminal activity and described its criticism as unfair.

“In one case, we had to apply for the freezing of the accounts of one of our members who has several cases pending before the disciplinary committee because his client had credible fear that our member would embezzle his funds. The client managed to get his compensation in full due to our timely intervention.

Such is our commitment to helping the helpless and the vulnerable against our own members,” said Suzi-Banda, adding that the SG knows “how far we have come and the strides we have made and how committed we are to dealing with members who misconduct themselves.”

But the SG said h e r responsibility under the law is to chair the disciplinary committee and make recommendations through that committee on behalf of the Law Society to the Attorney General for disciplinary measures.

“Any matters of embezzlement once brought to the attention of the society, they have a responsibility as a regulator of the profession to take action against their membership. They have a responsibility through their secretariat to report the matter to police. The disciplinary committee is serviced by the secretariat of the Law Society because it is established as a committee of the Law Society. “

I chair a committee that makes recommendations to the Law Society as a regulatory body. The decisions of that committee are supposed to be implemented by the secretariat of the Law Society which should submit case files to the police or DPP,” said Banda.

DPP Mary Kachale confirmed in an emailed response through Ministry of Justice spokesperson Apoche Itimu that the law requires MLS secretariat to communicate findings of the committee to DPP.

“The disciplinary committee is a committee of the Law Society as such serviced by the secretariat of the Law Society. The [disciplinary committee] works within that framework and makes recommendations to the Attorney General through that secretariat. It also makes recommendations for prosecutions within the same context. The secretariat is supposed to compile case dockets based on these recommendations and submit to the AG. “

The Solicitor General is a member of the committee and usually requested to chair, though not a requirement under the law, by virtue of seniority at the bar,” said Kachale.