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Delivering judgment in the matter, Justice Gabriel Kolawole gave an order of perpetual injunction restraining the federal government, CBN and SCUML from seeking to enforce Section 5 of the MLA against legal practitioners. He made no order as to costs.Noting that there is no nexus between SCUML and legal practitioners, Justice Kolawole held that it […]

Delivering judgment in the matter, Justice Gabriel Kolawole gave an order of perpetual injunction restraining the federal government, CBN and SCUML from seeking to enforce Section 5 of the MLA against legal practitioners. He made no order as to costs.
Noting that there is no nexus between SCUML and legal practitioners, Justice Kolawole held that it was improper for SCUML to seek to exercise oversight powers over the plaintiffs. He further held that even if any oversight powers were to be conferred on any ministry, it ought to have been the Ministry of Justice.
Justice Kolawole observed that the sanctions for non-compliance with Section 5 of the MLA include banning the legal practitioner from engaging in legal practice. He held that the LPA has already made provisions for the manner in which a legal practitioner can be disciplined where his conduct falls below prescribed standards of the rules guiding the profession. The court held that since the Minister of Trade and Commerce neither issued the Call to Bar certificate nor entered the name of any legal practitioner in the Roll, he had no right to disqualify any legal practitioner.
He raised three issues for determination, namely whether Section 5 of the MLA is unconstitutional, whether SCUML is the body authorised to regulate the conduct of legal practitioners and whether it is a juristic body, and whether in view of the Legal Practitioners Act (LPA), Evidence Act and the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the legal profession is not already well regulated. Justice Kolawole resolved all three issues in favour of the plaintiffs.
SCUML is an agency currently under the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment with operational linkages to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).