Legal practitioner Jaja has accused the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) of applying inconsistent standards in regulating professional titles within the legal profession.
Jaja argued that while the title Barrister is expressly mentioned in the Legal Practitioners Act of 1962, it has been restricted, whereas other titles not found in any statute, such as Esquire or the “Blue Silks” rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (SCN) are permitted.
He cited a Federal High Court judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Garba Umar, which held that neither the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) nor the LPPC has regulatory authority over the SCN title.
“It is an act of contradiction and hypocrisy to ban a title listed in law while allowing others not recognized by statute,” Jaja said.
He further noted that the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) title itself was not created by Nigerian legislation but evolved from Britain’s King’s Counsel tradition, adopted in Nigeria in 1975.
According to him, the absence of a title from statute does not make its use unlawful.Jaja maintained that the SCN title, conferred by the Nigerian Law Society and the Body of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (BOSCON), derives legitimacy from constitutional provisions and guidelines established under Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution and Section 19 of the National Assembly Service Commission Act, 2014.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com