AG, DPP, MLS clash over errant lawyers

Disagreements have emerged between the Malawi Law Society (MLS) disciplinary committee and the offices of the Attorney General (AG) and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) over the handling of lawyers for professional misconduct.

This comes after the committee accused the two public officers of allegedly inaction on a number of recommendations made to them to discipline errant lawyers.

In its annual report presented yesterday during the Malawi Law Society annual general meeting (AGM) and conference in Mangochi, the committee outlines a number of matters it claims the AG and DPP have not acted upon.

But reacting to the report, AG Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda said the committee needed to do more than what they have presented in because they are “lies and unfair.”

He said: “The accusations against my office and the DPP that disciplinary matters referred to us have not been attended to are not correct. I was in court before the Chief Justice for the same issues. Actually, there are also cases of discipline pending in court which my office already filed.”

Chakaka Nyirenda said there are two types of complaints which include those that go to his office and pass through MLS while others go directly to his office against lawyers complaining about embezzlement and professional misconduct.

“I have referred these complaints to the disciplinary committee and the feedback I got was that the complaints were received after the 90-day requirement and, therefore, there was nothing the committee could do about them.

“Equally the accusation that the DPP has not initiated criminal prosecution against those errant lawyers that have stolen money from their clients is not correct. How do you base a criminal prosecution just on a letter without adequate details? If you do that people will come and sue my office, claiming compensation for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution and this is not what we want. So, we feel these criticisms are unfair and not based on evidence of facts,” explained the AG.

But on his part, MLS president Patrick Mpaka said the report cannot be taken lightly because the calibre of people in the committee cannot lightly put down remarks like they did. The committee is headed by Solicitor General and Secretary for Justice Alison M’bang’ombe under whose ministry the AG and DPP falls.

“They had a meeting to review the work for the year so the AG and DPP have raised the issues with the report but the committee stands by the position as taken by the report. So what has been agreed is that the report stands as presented and we will now go into an inquiry into the issues that have been raised,” he said.

Mpaka said MLS will engage the Solicitor General, AG as well as the DPP because what is remaining is a matter of evidence on who is saying what.

“We will have to dig deeper and find out why the committee is saying that and why the AG and DPP are saying that. So, as matters stand the report is as presented by the committee,”  he said.