LAZ warns members
By KASUBA MULENGA and DORIS KASOTE
The Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) has warned of serious sanctions against its members who issue statements against the Judiciary in the media.LAZ president, Stephen Lungu said at a press briefing in Lusaka yesterday that public attacks against the Judiciary by lawyers may diminish public confidence in the legal profession.
Mr Lungu said the association is alive to the fact that the Judiciary has challenges but that its members should not use the media to attack it.
“The council of the Law Association of Zambia wishes to strongly urge our members to forthwith refrain from using the media as the mode of communicating their grievances against the Judiciary,” he said.
Mr Lungu said any lawyer whose conduct contravenes the provisions of the Legal Practitioners Act and its rules will be subjected to administrative sanctions.
“As a council and an association we will defend the integrity of the Judiciary against unwarranted attacks,” Mr Lungu said.
He said the association is aware that the Judiciary has challenges which are neither peculiar nor insurmountable, but that the media is not a forum for lawyers to attack it.
Mr Lungu said the association has noted with concern that it has become common practice for lawyers to speak off the cuff and express their opinions publicly without regard to the effect of their statements on those they comment on, be it clients or the public.
He said whereas LAZ recognises the fact that the Zambian Constitution has given every citizen the freedom of speech, it is mandatory that all legal practitioners adhere to the Legal Practitioners Act and the rules promulgated under the legislation.
Mr Lungu said every legal practitioner, being a learned member of the bar and an officer of the court, should not engage in conduct which is prejudicial to the administration of justice and which is likely to diminish public confidence in the legal profession and bring it into disrepute.
He said lawyers should desist from making any statements in the media that can tarnish the name of the legal profession.
Meanwhile, Lusaka lawyer John Sangwa has accused Chief Justice Ernest Sakala and Judge-In-charge Essau Chulu of interfering in cases involving Access Financial Services directors Faustin Kabwe and Aaron Chungu.
In a letter dated June 24, 2009, addressed to the Judicial Complaints Authority, Mr Sangwa alleged that the conduct of the Lordships was in violation of Section 3 of the Judicial Code of Conduct Act, in that they have shown that they are against his clients and favour the Task Force on Corruption.
“Their Lordships are unhappy with the fact that my clients have not been arrested and prosecuted by the Task Force on Corruption on the strength of the order given by Madam Justice C.B. Phiri,” the letter reads in part.
He alleges that the Judges have violated Section 25 (2) of the Act, adding that the section requires judicial officers to be concerned only with the conduct of other judicial officers, which contravenes the Act.
Mr Sangwa expressed his dissatisfaction with the alleged interest the Lordships have shown in the matter considering that there are several cases of people in prison who have not appeared in court for years when criminal cases were supposed to be given priority.
He said further that there are Judges who have not heard cases for years since they were allocated, adding that even those that have been heard, in some cases, have been pending.
Mr Sangwa wondered why cases involving his clients have all been allocated to Mr Justice Evans Hamaundu.
“His Lordship the Chief Justice has violated the provisions of Section 24 (2) (b) of the Act in that His Lordship can interfere in the work of a judge only upon receiving representations from the Judicial Complaints Authority,” he said.
And in a letter dated May 8, 2009, addressed to Mr Justice Chulu, Mr Sangwa states that his clients have expressed concern over all their cases against the State being allocated to Mr Justice Hamaundu.
In a letter addressed to Mr Sangwa dated May 7, 2009, Mr Chungu and Mr Kabwe gave reference to cases such as their case of the Task Force being declared illegal having been thrown out on grounds that it was not taken to court under the correct procedure.
The duo said they are concerned about the development, given similar situations where other Judges declined to hear cases concerning the same parties over which they have previously pronounced judgments.
ENDS…
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