The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, section on legal practice, has warned that corruption is a major factor limiting the expansion of the legal practice in Nigeria.
The group stated this at the 8th Annual Conference of the NBA- Section on Legal Practice.
The conference with the theme, expanding the frontiers of legal practice, commenced on Monday, November 10 and ended on Thursday, November 13.
The NBA after deliberating on all the papers presented, issued a communique signed by Babajide Koku, Interim Chairman-Section on legal practice.
The communique stated among other things, “That legal practice in Nigeria has transformed over the years and has contributed immensely to the unity and development of Nigeria but needs to move beyond the status quo if Nigerian lawyers are to remain relevant globally.
“That there is an urgent need for continuing legal education programs by the section on legal practice and the NBA to bring Nigerian lawyers at par with their contemporaries in other countries particularly regarding emerging areas of law such as civil disputes and crimes committed over the cyberspace including Twitter, Facebook and instagram, climate change and nuclear law, terrorism and humanitarian law, medical and media law amongst others.
“That increased efforts should be made towards speedy and qualitative dispensation of justice in order to change the tide and make Nigerian legal system a choice destination for domestic and transnational disputes with a view to expanding the frontiers of legal practice.
The group also urged judges not to be intimidated by petitions lodged by lawyers and counsel to the NBA or NJC if they have discharged their duties according to the law and further urges the NBA and Nigerian lawyers to continue to conscientiously defend judges who are innocent and have exercised their discretion judiciously and judicially.
Some of the dignitaries at the conference include, Babatunde Fashola, Lagos State governor, Godswill Akpabio, Akwa Ibom State governor and Augustine Alegeh, president of NBA among others.
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