The Attorney General of the federation has formally inaugurated the general council of the Bar, to help with the making and reviewing of rules of professional conduct in the judiciary.
This is coming 16 years after an attempt made by the then attorney general to the federation Bayo Ojo to constitute the council in 2007, proved abortive.
The origin of the Bar Council in Nigeria can be traced to the reference of the committee on the future of the legal profession and education which was set up in 1959.
The Bar Council is made up of the Attorney General of the Federation, The State Attorney Generals and 20 Members of the NBA with a stipulation that not less than 7 of them shall be legal practitioners with 10 years post-call.
Section 12(4) of the NBA constitution provides for 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 a Gazette and distributed to all the branches of the association.
The function of the Bar Council was last performed in 2007, when the then Attorney-General of the Federation Bayo Ojo, as President of the Bar Council issued the Rules of Professional Conduct that is currently in operation. Attempts to reconstitute the Council since then had proven abortive.
The failure to constitute the General Council of Bar over the years has created a yawning gap in the regulatory structure of the legal profession.
This gap could be seen in the fact that the Rules of Professional Conduct do not appear to be adequate in tackling the contemporary challenges facing the profession and the society at large.
There is need to provide regulations that will guide the conduct of legal practitioners towards the fight against corruption, money laundering, terrorism, economic crimes, and other criminal activities.
It is 16 years since the Attorney General of the federation last inaugurated the bar council ,
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