The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had through its National Commissioner and Chairman, Voter Education and Publicity, Mr Festus Okoye advised senior lawyers engaged in prosecution of election petitions to stop sending junior lawyers to its headquarters to collect or process documents for use at election petition tribunal over want of understanding of process. The opinion of INEC is presently generating controversy. KEHINDE OSASONA got lawyers to offer their perspectives on the matter.
It is unacceptable, ill-conceived – Barr Cajetan Nnaemeka
My reaction is that it is unacceptable and ill-conceived to stop junior lawyers from processing documents at the commission’s headquarters whether election petition or not.
The reason is that if junior lawyers are not sent on this kind of errand, they won’t be able to learn the nitty-gritty of having to carry out such task on their senior behalf. This procedure we are talking about is not what you learn in Law School but in court. Come to think of it: experience matters and lawyers without it should be given the opportunity to grow in the profession.
In summary, INEC should not shut its doors against any lawyer because they are simply sharpening their skills against future challenges. And if they are not given the chance to make mistakes and correct themselves, they would not know anything about the process.
INEC has no legal rights to bar any lawyer – Emmanuel Iji
As a lawyer, once you are called to the bar, you are deemed to know all the processes. They taught you all these things in Law School. So, they are not strange to you. I mean, filing of processes or processing documents is not supposed to be a new thing for a lawyer even for one that is called to the bar just today.
Even if a senior lawyer sends his junior colleague to carry out such task and some discrepancies occur, it is not INEC’s duty and they do not have such legal rights to ban any lawyer from processing documents because every lawyer is deemed to know the law and procedure entailed in carrying out processing of documents.
But if the commission thinks there is still the need to caution lawyers, I think it should just draw the attention of such lawyer or chamber to make amend and not dish out order.
INEC ignorant of tutelage practice in legal profession—Aremiyau Aduku
The position of INEC that senior lawyers should stop sending junior lawyers to the commission to process documents or retrieve files is not good enough. In fact, I do not subscribe to it.
As far as I am concerned, INEC is absolutely ignorant of the law in respect of tutelage of lawyers. You see, without junior lawyers being sent on such errand, chances are that they won’t learn anything.
Also, it is uncalled for that a senior lawyer who had spent like 20 years at the bar to go the commission and start searching for files while junior ones are in the office. For me, it is out of point.
So, if such allegation is true, then I would advise that whenever a junior lawyer is in the commission for such a purpose, they should let their staff assist such junior lawyer around the documents processing to forestall any recurrence.
It’s a duty for junior lawyers but… – Taiwo Sanni
The allegation that junior lawyers bungle documentation processes at the INEC headquarters is not far-fetched of course.
But the profession is the type that has ethics and doctrines. There is no way a junior lawyer would be in office and the senior one would be the one to process documents for him. There is something called tutelage period in the legal profession where a junior lawyer gets opportunity to learn the act and do all those things, and there are no two ways about it. If you don’t send them, there is no way they can learn.
At this juncture, I think the only way out is to guide them appropriately as to what and what they ought to do and not barring them. I also think senior lawyers should begin to guide their junior ones well on how to handle things knowing fully well that the profession is basically about teaching and tutelage.
Principals, senior lawyers should provide guidance – Festus Osayi
I do not share INEC’s position on doing away with junior lawyers on document processing at its headquarters. If they do, they are trained. If they don’t do it, how would they get trained? It is only by the act of doing it that they become master of the game too because you cannot ask them to stay away.
However, I will suggest that senior lawyers and their Principals as the case may be should endeavor to guide their junior ones in respect of these tasks.
And when the junior lawyers are attached to the junior lawyers, they always get guidance of their principals who tell them what to do and what not to do. So, if there is a mistake somewhere, you don’t have to generalize by saying junior lawyers should stay away. No. I think that is my take on it.
INEC right, junior lawyers’ experience not adequate – Olusola Ojo
Well, let me be frank with you, if INEC has said that, I think it is a good development. INEC, if you must know, is not a one-stop shop. To handle matters like that, the experience of junior lawyers may not be that adequate to take care of such issue from one table to the other.
Truth is: some of the junior lawyers may not have even handled anything called election petition matters before. So, going there would give the commission stress because they would go there and will not know what to do, except those who have been going with their principals to carry out such assignment just like some of them follow them to courts.
So, I think it is in order asking senior lawyers to do it because the burden and the work they would do will be less simply because the senior lawyers know what to do rather than a junior lawyer who would come and he is still being put through. I think the junior lawyers should learn from their senior colleagues practically so that they can take over from there.
This cannot stand, lawyers not idiots – Pereboh Sanami
That can definitely not stand. An average lawyer that is duly called to the bar knows what to do. First and foremost, a lawyer that is called to the bar, in the first place, is not an idiot.
For me, it is really not by seniority. If there are some persons that are not handling their documents very well, I think it is left for them to say oh, we gave a document to this so and so person and then it is left for the person who applies for such public document to hold the person responsible.
Don’t also forget that the Evidence Act makes it very clear as to what is required for obtaining the certified copy of a public document. And having fulfilled the provision of the law, yours is to do same by doing the needful.
It is not INEC’s business how such document is handled by lawyers whether junior or senior. And again, mishandling of documents is not a function of age at the bar. It basically depends on how much value is given to the documents by the handlers. It is not for INEC to determine who is competent to handle processing or documentation and who is not. In fact, it is not their business.
Statement discriminatory, should be retracted – Emmanuel Utomi
With respect to what INEC said, I think it is discriminatory. I also think it is out of place to deny lawyers a public document by way of reasons adduced. INEC should, as a matter of urgency, retract that statement so as not to start creating another angle of the bar or divide them into the junior and the senior. That is wrong and they should not send a bad precedence.
My belief is that every lawyer should be able to access public documents. What INEC should do is to supervise whatsoever that is being done.
So, saying that junior lawyers should not be allowed to carry out documentation or processing as the case may be, is trying to shut the door out against a set of people as against the other because you cannot distinguish between a senior and junior lawyer. I think they should have simply said that only people who have business with their commission should try to access documents.
