Regulate legal profession or lose control – PALU

The President of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), Emeka Obegolu, has called on national bar associations and law societies across the globe to effectively regulate the legal profession or lose control to agencies of government. Obegolu made this call recently during the International Lawyers Forum of the German Federal Bar. He said nations and […]

The President of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), Emeka Obegolu, has called on national bar associations and law societies across the globe to effectively regulate the legal profession or lose control to agencies of government.

Obegolu made this call recently during the International Lawyers Forum of the German Federal Bar.

He said nations and the general public were at a crossroad between national security concerns and lawyer/client confidentiality, leading to different legislations in some jurisdictions that were designed to subvert one of the pillars of the administration of justice and the rule of law.

Speaking on the theme of the conference: “Confidentiality – A Lawyers issue”, the PALU president called on the national bar associations to design a robust regulatory mechanism that addressed the concerns of the general public and other stakeholders while balancing the need for confidentiality with national security concerns.

President of the International Bar Association (IBA), Horacio Bernadres-Neto, observed that the privilege belonged to the client and not the counsel, and that the legal profession must continue to ensure the protection of the privilege while balancing it with national and international security concerns.

President of the Law Society of England and Wales, Christina Blacklaws, advised that lawyers must not hide under attorney privilege to compound crimes or withhold information on the likelihood of commission of crime, adding that there was need to interrogate the issues surrounding clients’ privilege and where the privilege ends versus where national security starts.

The conference was attended by bar leaders from over 35 countries and regional bars.