Malawi Law Society suspends 2 lawyers
Malawi Law Society (MLS) has suspended two lawyers under its membership for one year each after a disciplinary committee found them guilty of numerous offences.
The two, Cynthia Chawani working for Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) and private practice lawyer Oswald Mtupila, have also been fined K500 000 each as costs for the disciplinary proceedings as per Section 96 (2) (a) of the Legal Education and Legal Practitioners Act.
A MLS notice published in the local press yesterday signed by honorary secretary Gabriel Chembezi indicated that Chawani’s suspension is from December 20 2023 to December 20 2024 while that of Mtupila is from December 1 2023 to December 1 2024.
Details of Mtupila’s offence state that he failed to competently represent a client, thereby bringing the profession of law into disrepute and continued acting in a matter in which he foresaw that he would be unable to provide legal services and exposed a client to avoidable costs.
The notice stated that such conduct contravened Section 89 (2) (j) of the Legal Education and Legal Practitioners Act and Chapter 2 Rule 2 of the MLS Code of Ethics, respectively.
For Chawani, the notice said there was conduct that brought the law profession into disrepute and that she was involved in conduct other than the practice of law incompatible with the best interests of the profession and the justice system.
The notice also detailed that there was personal conduct bringing discredit to the profession of law and failure to respond to MLS correspondence contrary to Section 89 (2) (j) of the Legal Education and Legal Practitioners Act.
The two were yesterday not available for comment when The Nation wanted to seek their reactions.
In recent months, MLS has been suspending errant lawyers and recommending them to the Chief Justice to be struck off the system for numerous malpractices, most of which pertain to squandering clients’ money.
MLS has been cracking its whip on the errant lawyers after the public perceived the lawyers’ body to be shielding its colleagues.
