By Sylvester Udemezue
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Established by the Legal Practitioners Act (LPA)i which providesii that “There shall be a body to be known as the General Council of the Bar (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the Bar Council”) which shall be charged with the functions conferred on the Council by this Act or the Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association (the “Association”).iii The LPA also prescribes its functions/powers, membership composition,iv tenure of elected members,v quorumvi of the meeting of the Bar Council. As already pointed out above, the Bar Council has three classes of powers namely — (1) powers reserved for it under the LPA,vii (2) Powers reserved for it by the RPC, 2007;viii and (3) those reserved for it in the NBA Constitution.ix Specific functions and powers of the GCB include:
(𝟭). General Management of the Affairs of the NBA: Although the LPAx had given to the GCB the power of general management of the affairs of the NBA in emergency situations to avoid vacuum and irresoluble crises in NBA leadership, subject to any limitations for the time being provided by the Constitution of the Association, this power has now been transferredxi to the Body of Benchers. In reality though, attempts by the Body of Benchers to manage NBA affairs has always been met with resistance.xii
(𝟮). Duty to Make and Amend the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) for Lawyers in Nigeria: The GCB possesses exclusive power to make, revise, amend or otherwise alter the RPC. The LPAxiii provides that “It shall be the duty of the Bar Council to make rules from time to time on professional conduct in the legal profession and cause such rules to be published in the Gazette and distributed to all branches of the Association”. The first RPC which was made by the Council at its general meeting in Lagos on 25 December 1967, was later amended on 15 January 1979, and later replaced by the RPC, 2007. The RPC 2007 was however, single-handedly purportedly amended by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, in September 2020.xiv This purported amendment was later set aside (nullified) by Court in 2022xv at the instance of a suit filed by the NBA.xvi
(𝟯). Fixing Bar Practicing Fee (BPF): Although the powers of the General Council to fix bar practicing fee was transferred to the Body of Benchers under Decree 21 of 1994,xvii the current practice is that the Federal Attorney General now fixes the practising fees in consultation with the NBA.xviii
(𝟰). Other Roles of the GCB: Making rules of accounts to be kept by legal practitioners in Nigeriaxix as well as performing other functions as may be assigned to it by the NBA Constitutionxx or the RPC.xxi
𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝗮𝗿 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗡𝗕𝗔) 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗢𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗿 (𝗚𝗖𝗕)
In some way, the NBA as an organization regulates the GCB in that the NBA prescribes certain functions for the GCB. Section 1 of the LPA provides that “There shall be a body to be known as the General Council of the Bar (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the Bar Council”) which shall be charged with the functions conferred on the Council by this Act or the Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association (the “Association”).xxii A close look at the foregoing provisions indicates that the Bar Council (GCB) has two categories of powers reserved for it under the LPA. But there appears to be a third category, powers reserved for the GCB under the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC), 2023. Hence, the GCB has three groups of powers:
(𝗮). Powers Reserved For It Under The LPA: These have been discussed above.
(𝗯). Powers Reserved For It In The NBA Constitution: xxiii Section 7 of the extant Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), dealing with “Limitations to the powers of the General Council of the Bar,” provides as follows:
Pursuant to the powers conferred on the Association by Section 1 (1) of the Legal Practitioners Act, CAP L11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 (“Legal Practitioners Act”), to limit the powers of the General Council of the Bar, the General Council of the Bar shall not have: a. Any control over the budget or finance of the Nigerian Bar Association; b. The power to appoint representatives of the Association to any Statutory, Executive/Judicial, or other bodies; 6 c. The power to issue any statements purporting to express the view of the Association upon any matter of public interest or any matter affecting the interest of the Legal Profession generally; d. The power to make any arrangements whatsoever (including the drawing up of an Agenda or choice of venue) for the Annual General Meeting or any other General Meeting of the Association. (2) If at any time, due to unavoidable circumstances or any emergency, an election cannot be held at the appropriate time or the National Executive Council is incapable of functioning, the General Council of the Bar shall be convened with powers to constitute a 10-member caretaker committee of members of the Association to run the affairs of the Association for not more than the unexpired tenure of the National Officers or until when new National Officers shall be elected. (3) Provided however that the General Council of the Bar acting under Section 7 (2) hereto shall not be subject to any limitation of its powers under Section 1(1) of the Legal Practitioners Act, until the expiration of the unavoidable circumstances or emergency.
(𝗰). Powers Reserved for the GCB by the RPC: Rule 7 of the RPC provides as follows:
7(1) Unless permitted by the General Council of the Bar (hereinafter referred to as the “Bar Council”), a lawyer shall not practice as a legal practitioner at the same time as he practices any other profession. (2) engaged in – A lawyer shall not practice as a legal practitioner while personally (a) the business of buying and selling commodities; (b) (c) time lawyer or as profession. (3) the business of a commission agent; such other trade or business which the Bar Council may from to time declare to be incompatible with practice as a tending to undermine the high standing of the For the purpose of the rule, “trade or business” include all forms or participation in any trade or business, but does not include- (a) functions; (b) (c) membership of the Board of Directors of a company which does not involve either executive, administrative or clerical being Secretary of a company; or being a shareholder in a company.
Rule 45(2) of the RPC provides that “A lawyer shall not wear the Barrister’s or Senior Advocate’s robe – (a) on any occasion other than in Court except as may be directed or permitted by the Bar Council; or (b) when conducting his own case as party to a legal proceeding in Court; or (c) giving evidence in a legal proceeding in Court”.
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EndNotes
*Culled from the book, Strengthening Legal Profession Regulation In Nigeria (unpublished) by Sylvester Udemezue: 08109024556, lawmentorNG@gmail.com)
(𝗶). CAP L11, LFN, 2004.
(𝗶𝗶). Section 1(1), LPA
(𝗶𝗶𝗶). Section 1(1) 𝗟𝗣𝗔
(𝗶𝘃) Section 1(2)
(𝘃). Section 1(3)(b)
(𝘃𝗶). Section 1(4)
(𝘃𝗶𝗶). Section 1
(𝘃𝗶𝗶𝗶). See for example Rule 7, RPC, 20𝟮𝟯
(𝗶𝘅). See the NBA Constitution, Scetion 7(2) and (3). <https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/The-NBA-Constitution-2021-Approved-by-AGM-on-29-10-2021-TheNigeriaLawyer.pdf>
(𝘅). The previous section 1(1) (befoere the 1994 Amendment proviced: “There shall be a body to be known as the General Council of the Bar (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the Bar Council”) which shall be charged with the general management of the affairs of the Nigerian Bar Association (subject to any limitations for the time being provided by the constitution of the association) and with any functions conferred on the council by this Act or that constitution”. The current provision is “There shall be a body to be known as the General Council of the Bar (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the Bar Council”) which shall be charged with the functions conferred on the Council by this Act or the Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association (the “Association”).
(𝘅𝗶). By section 2 of Decree 21 of 1994; See the Legal Practitioner (Amendment) Decree 21 of 1994. See section 10 of the LPA (Revised Edition).
(𝘅𝗶𝗶). Professional Ethics and Skills Handbook, Nigerian Law School
(𝘅𝗶𝗶𝗶). Section 12(4)
(𝘅𝗶𝘃).TheNigeriaLawyer, ‘AGF Malami (SAN) Amends RPC, Deletes Provision For NBA Stamp and Seal’ (TheNigeriaLawyer.com 12 September 2020) < https://thenigerialawyer.com/agf-malami-san-amends-rpc-deletes-provision-for-nba-stamp-and-seal/> accessed 23 December 2022
(𝘅𝘃). Blueprint, ‘Court nullifies Malami’s amendment of lawyers’ professional conduct rules’ (Blueprint.ng 11 August 2022)
(𝘅𝘃𝗶). Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/77/2022: Incorporated Trustees of the NBA v Attorney-General of the 𝗙𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
(𝘅𝘃𝗶𝗶). See section 10(1)(d)
(𝘅𝘃𝗶𝗶𝗶). This is perhaps by virtue of the Legal Practitioners (Amendment) Decree 31 of 1999
(𝘅𝗶𝘅). See section 20 Legal Practitioners Act
(𝘅𝘅). See: Section 1(1) LPA
(𝘅𝘅𝗶). See Rules 7 and 45(2), RPC, 2023
(𝘅𝘅𝗶𝗶). Section 1(1) 𝗟𝗣𝗔
(𝘅𝘅𝗶𝗶𝗶). See the NBA Constitution, Scetion 7(2) and (3).
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