By Edith Nwapi
Abuja – An Abuja based lawyer Mr Babatunde Oyefeso, Vice Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA) Abuja Branch, on Saturday called on lawyers to do more ‘pro bono’ services to assist indigent litigants.
Pro bono is a professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment, it is a Latin word `pro bono public, meaning `For the public good.
Oyefeso on Saturday told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the NBA both at National and state levels urged lawyers to take up pro bono cases.
He said that about three to four years ago, there was an arrangement between the Unity Bar and the Justice for All, that lawyers should indicate their interest for pro bono cases and that he was the secretary of that committee.
“ We had to assign cases to lawyers, who would go on with the cases, and I know that presently those cases still run and we recorded major successes.
“ Those that were wrongly charged to court got their freedom legitimised by the court and those who were found to have committed the offence were made to face the law.
“You should also bear in mind that lawyers are not magicians,’’ he said.
The lawyer said that the profession made a demand on them that everybody regardless of whether he is guilty or not, he is entitled to legal representation.
Emphasising that people who subscribed to that enactment must also put on their best to ensure that things are done within the law and facts available to them.
Oyefeso also said that the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON) takes most of the pro bono cases and has gone a step further to create a section in which NBA was invited.
According to him, the fallout of that is that there is a Network of pro bono lawyers that cut across all the jurisdiction, I happened to be in that particular meeting.
“ I know that part of the gains of that meeting is that they are looking for the means to ensure that we have effective representation for these indigent litigants.
“ The down side of it is just the fact that the minimum cost for running it needs to be looked at how it will be taken care of by the system ,’’ he said.
Oyefeso said that at times some of these cases are outside jurisdiction and the area of influence of the lawyer who has been assigned to it.
According to the lawyer, there must be also a minimum cost the lawyer would bear in having to go about the case.
“The allegation against some of the lawyers who take up pro bono cases has been that because there is no fee being paid to them there’s not much seriousness and commitment attached to the case.
“ But what I also know is that every lawyer who announces appearance for a case knows that the moment he announces it, he is taking his reputation as a legal practitioner on the line.
“ So he knows that he would have to do all within his power and be diligent about it.
He said that a lot of lawyers who have either been appointed as senior advocates or intended to be appointed are taking up pro bono matters and it is a standing rule now. (NAN)