Justice Sakala wants integrity among senior lawyers

CHIEF Justice Ernest Sakala April 24 warned senior lawyers to desist from engaging in smear campaigns against the judiciary and leaking confidential documents. He said the judiciary had lately noted with dismay the way certain confidential matters were being handled between the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) and the Judicial Service Commission.

Speaking at the Supreme Court when he admitted Patrick Matibini and Michael Mundashi to the inner bar as state counsel, Justice Sakala said the judiciary was shocked to hear and read about matters in the media that were not supposed to be in the public domain.

“What is shocking and regrettable is that the suspects passing this confidential information are said to be some state counsels. As an institution, we have been at a loss as to what is prevailing in the legal fraternity.

“The recent unfortunate development has cast serious doubts in our minds on the association’s ability to abide by confidentiality, which is an integral part of our practice,” he said.

He said it was a matter of grave concern that the legal profession seemed to be slowly losing the fibre that separates it from other professional bodies.

Justice Sakala said the title of state counsel and its dignity should not at any time be abused. He said the rank and dignity of state counsel came with numerous responsibilities to the profession and the judiciary.

Justice Sakala urged the two new state counsels to use their new standing to champion good practices and moral standing among upcoming lawyers. He said as state counsels, Mr Mundashi and Dr Matibini would command immense respect both from the bench and among their colleagues at the Bar. He urged them to offer leadership to all lawyers if their new titles were to be meaningful.

Justice Sakala said it was disappointing that some senior lawyers had opted to stay away from court work and anything to do with legal matters in general after being conferred with the status of state counsel. He said the rank of state counsel should be the driving force for senior lawyers to do even more by offering themselves as role models and experts in law. He said it was also regrettable that some senior lawyers tended to stay away from LAZ activities, thereby leaving upcoming lawyers to struggle on their own.

Justice Sakala said whenever mistakes were made, some senior lawyers were quick to offer condemnations when they should have helped to guide junior lawyers.