Will Lawyers go to Hell?
By Aishah Manzuma
Your dad(who is a lawyer) will go to hell! That was what someone told me when I was much younger. This statement made a lasting imprint on my heart, which is probably the reason why I am writing about it. As I grow older and began my LL.B journey, I have being asked by a lot of people if I am going to practise law, because I know lawyers will not make heaven(so they said). I am also sure my colleague would have faced the same ordeal which is why I am writing to demystify this stereotype.
The reason for this stereotype against lawyers is due to many reasons people advance including the fact that lawyers represent criminals as hardened as murderers only to secure the supposed criminals freedom which is against public morality and public belief. This write up is not to cover the faults of the bad egg in the profession but to clear the stereotype held by the common man.
First, A lawyer is not a liar. He is truthful and a perfect human being of intelligence, respect, courtesy and candour. A lawyer is not an interloper, intermeddler, confusionistor ramble. The definition of a Lawyer has been baptized vide the provision of Section 24 of the Legal Practitioners Act which establishes thus “Legal practitioner’ is an individual entitled to practice as a barrister or both as a barrister and solicitor, either generally or for specific purposes. “The Act clarifies that an individual can practice as a barrister and solicitor only if their name is listed in the roll.
The learned Priest in the temple of justice (perNikiTobiJSC) opines that, a lawyer is a person who by the sheer dictates of his profession, exposes his services those in need and in trouble. It is not part of the role of lawyers to instigate, litigate or dispute between parties. He is however prepared to use his expertise of the law to protect and defend a party who runs into some problem or who is troubled by the law…therefore, the impression that lawyers are liars is malicious and fallacious. I am going to demystify the stereotype that lawyers will go to hell in few points which include the Right to defence/ Fair hearing, justice and etiquette of the bar.
Right to defence/ Fair hearing : I could remember vividly when I was in LL.B 1 and we asked our lecturer why a lawyer would represent a criminal, he asked us a question in turn _ who is a criminal? Our obvious answer to him was that a criminal is a person charged to Court for an offence. He however made it clear to us that no one is a criminal unless and until he is declared guilty by the Court. So, lawyers do not represent criminals, rather, they represent accused persons in Court. Therefore, Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution as amended gives an accused person the right to be heard before being condemned, the right to hear his side of the story as expressed in the maxim” Audi Alterem Patem” (meaning both sides should be heard) and the right to legal representation, the provision went further that, when an accused person is in court without legal representation, the State shall provide him with one. So a lawyer represent an accused person irrespective of how grievous his offence is ,just like the way you will like your parent to hear your side of the story when you have a misunderstanding with your siblings before you are punished.
Also, when we say a person has committed a crime, we consider what crime really means _ when a supposed thief take your money without consent? What type of crime is that? A lawyer knows that, nothing is said to be a crime unless and until there is a written law which defines the offence and the punishment thereto as provided under Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution, shedding more light, the subsection defines a written law as an Act of the National Assembly or a Law of a State, any Subsidiary Legislation or Instrument under the provisions of the law. So, if a person is said to have committed a crime, and such crime is not listed under any above law, such crime cannot be penalized as a crime no matter how repulsive it is to mortality just as it was established in the case of Aoko v. Fagbemi ( (1966) All NLR 400). Also, a crime may not be punished in the way it is labelled by the common man, unless and until all ingredient of the offence has been proved beyond reasonable doubt. So a person is not said to have committed armed robbery if he threatens you with a toy gun because a toy gun does not come within the definition of arms needed to prosecute a person for the offence. In simple terms, just like you are required to have some qualifications for a job and unless and until you have the qualifications you will not get the job irrespective of your vast experience, an accused person cannot be punished for a crime unless and until all element of the offence are proven beyond reasonable doubts.
Furthermore, there has been clamour for justice by both the common man and lawyers which begs the question, what is Justice? Justice has been defined by many philosophers and judges in different ways, my favourite being the one given by Oputa JSC which has received Judicial blessing in the case of Josiah v. State ( (1985) 1 NWLR (Part 11) page 125 at 141)where he said, “Justice is not a one-way traffic. It is not justice for the appellant only. Justice is not even only a two-way traffic. It is really a three-way traffic – justice for the appellant(accused) of a heinous crime of murder; justice for the victim whose blood is crying out to heaven for vengeance and finally justice for society at large – the society whose social norms and values had been desecrated and broken by the criminal act complained of …” To do justice to the accused, he ought to have right to legal representation without being condemned in the court of the people and his sentence should only be subject to the law.
Also, it might interest the common man that, in the Rule for Professional Conduct, there is a rule called the Cab Rank Rule which mandate a lawyer to accept client who require their services, regardless of the client’s character, reputation or the nature of the case and not to discriminate their client, all this is aimed to ensuring justice and professionalism within the legal profession.
In conclusion, Lawyers will not go to hell by default of them being lawyers, they may even make heaven because they are lawyers. This is because they not only put their bias away, but for fighting actively to uphold the dignity and Fundamental Right of the human person as guaranteedby nature and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR.
Aishah Manzuma, is a Penultimate Law Student at Bayero University, Kano, an Avid writer and a debater, presently,she is the Naibatul Ameerah, Nigeria Association of Muslim Law Students, BUK chapter. She can be reached vide the below social media handles:
Whatsapp: 07082368019
Linkedin :Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/aishah-manzuma-b3bb21291?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/___a._.ish?igsh=MXdsc28zenNtNHR0bQ==
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/19HHk7kjgp/
Gmail:aishahmanzuma@g.mail.com
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