Lawyers should render free legal services – Adelodun SAN

What is the forthcoming NLAC conference all about?The forthcoming conference is second in the series, last year we had one in Abuja on access to justice which was very encouraging and we decided to follow up with another one. The one we have now is advancing the frontiers of pro bono which is a Latin […]

What is the forthcoming NLAC conference all about?
The forthcoming conference is second in the series, last year we had one in Abuja on access to justice which was very encouraging and we decided to follow up with another one. The one we have now is advancing the frontiers of pro bono which is a Latin word that means ‘for the public good’. It means offering free legal service to indigent and charitable organisations. This is because though professional lawyers are entitled to charge fees, but the society recognises that there are some of its segments that cannot afford to pay and where lawyers are seen to give service to these people it is for the public good and public interest.
Basically we want to sensitize members of the legal profession to the necessity and idea of rendering some free legal services to  Nigerians.
There used to be a requirement that lawyers applying for silk must offer pro bono services. Is there any guideline for offering this service?
There have been a lot of agitation that the Legal Practitioners Act and professional ethics should be amended to make it mandatory for lawyers to offer pro bono services. There are thousands of lawyers who do not apply for SAN so we do not say that because they do not apply for SAN they are insulated from public service. The agitation is that we should tinker with that law such that every lawyer is obliged to contribute a given number of hours in a year to free legal service.
This is a country where, more than any other, free legal service is required. Vast majority of our people are not only indigent but are not aware of their rights under the law. Government alone cannot do this. Government has done enough by setting up the Legal Aid Council (LAC). The whole essence of LAC is about provision of legal aid service. NLAC is now working under that law to encourage stakeholders to partner with it and see to it that majority of Nigerians have access to legal services.
How does a law firm key into this and what incentive is there for young lawyers?
The primary incentive is the satisfaction which the lawyer derives but going beyond that the NLAC is thinking of other incentives. We are evolving a scheme where we will make chambers to partner with us.
We will identify law firms that are willing to partner with us and we will recognise them officially into categories. We have diamond, gold and silver categories. We will give them plaques that they would hang in their offices to show that their firm offers pro bono and we will certify them as pro bono providers. Outside the shores of this country, that would entitle you to a lot of recognition and it is sufficient recognition in the country if you have that kind of certification.
Is the council working with the NBA in this project?
Yes, as a matter of fact the NBA president is a resource person in the proposed conference. There would be other notable members of the NBA that are resource persons who would answer questions to show that there is synergy between what NBA and the council are doing.  NBA also has its own pro bono scheme, the NLAC has its own and everybody is working towards making access to justice easy for all Nigerians.
Looking at the population of the country, do you think the council’s pro bono scheme can fill the gap of the majority who need pro bono services?
It would go a long way in filling the gap. Right now the NLAC having regard to its staff is 284; how can 284 staff serve 160 million. The indigent ones would be more that 70 per cent of this population to be very conservative.  This is why the council is taking this step to see that we elicit the support of critical stake holders. NLAC alone cannot do it, even if we secure and elicit the support of every other person, we might still not be able to do it but that would be better than where we are today.
What we are doing is leaving where we are and projecting to the future, where we are going immediately might not be enough but it would be better.
To what extent have you sensitized lawyers?
NLAC is 36 years old and these problems have been there.  In 2010, there were only 80 lawyers and it was set up during a military era. We talk to lawyers who are all NBA members, the law firms are private firms and we cannot invade their privacy but we talk to ourselves in public fora as we have the NBA conference to do that.
Where a law firm registers, we are also going to supervise them and they have to renew yearly, so those who did not do well will not have their registration renewed.
Section 17 of NLAC Act empowers us to put them on a list and give them cases to do and then monitor. For the young lawyer, it is a kind of pupilage and we can tie them to the pro bono cases and help them to achieve it.
Already, over 1,500 lawyers have applied. We have a parallel programme where decongestion cases have been offered by the federal government. For the past one year no decongestion case has been given out but all of a sudden we saw a very big application coming from lawyers, so we don’t want them to think that this is the decongestion project. We don’t have the fund to pay so we only appeal to people’s conscience.
While there exist the prison decongestion fund, how practicable is it to ask lawyers to render pro bono?
The prison decongestion fund has not been transferred to the NLAC, the Senate mooted the idea but it remains a resolution and not a law which is yet to be implemented anywhere. For the last one year no new decongestion case has been given out by the AGF.
What are the challenges confronting NLAC?
Funding is a challenge. The council has to service over 160 million Nigerians, that shows that you now require a lot of funding; at state, LGA and ward levels. And we expect lawyers to go round this vast country.  Government is trying and whether we like it or not NLAC must be Oliver Twist and ask for more. Much is expected from NLAC if its objectives are to be realised, and much should be given.