(JollofNews) – Lawyers must stand up for what is true, what is honorable, what is right, what is pure, what is of good repute, what is excellent and worthy of praise, this is the transcendent essence of the lawyers’ oath.
When judges and lawyers hesitate to do the right thing for fear of being derogated for the company they keep, or when they respond to vilification, threats and actual violence with surrender and capitulation, the rule of law is shoved out and impunity steps in our daily lives. Our lawyers are expected to be courageous amid difficult times and to do the right thing, and uphold the rule of law to prevent a culture of impunity from spreading as it prevails under their watch during Yahya Jammeh’s twenty-two years rule.
In a world where ‘alternative facts’ and ‘hyperbole’ are fast blurring the lines between truth and lies, lawyers who can help the courts, clients and the public sift truth from lies performs a valuable service to the citizenry.
The reality of difficult and violent times Gambians find themselves in combating impunity and promoting the rule of law, and the law of hope, the Gambian people expect lawyer’s role bringing out the truth, especially in this age when fake information abounds.
Good lawyers should not hesitate to swim against the tide, by challenging the status quo occasionally, confront traditions that may have taken root through inertia and, if necessary, create new traditions of preventing impunity.
Gambians are not fighting against a person or against an establishment. Rather, Gambians are fighting against a culture, a way of thinking, of seeing, and thus of acting – or not acting.
Impunity, it is a culture that is ingrained and deeply rooted, it is a culture that started when people started to look the other way; a culture that thrived when people stopped caring; a culture that prevailed when people stopped hoping.
To fight this culture, our lawyers must stand up for what is true and what is right, and must speak up and act when others refuse to do the same. They must also continue to hope even when others have given up.
By Alagi Yorro Jallow
The author is founder and former managing editor of The Independent, the Gambia’s only private newspaper before it was banned by the government in 2005. He was a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy, a 2007 Nieman fellow and is the author of Delayed Democracy: How Press Freedom Collapsed in Gambia published in 2013.
Good idea and a good time to begin such an Undertaking. Since it about Lawyers being Courageous and willing to Step forward Against Impunity, Please Permit me to Add, Not Subtract Malfeasance at any and all Levels of Society, but especially, within Many African Governments including Our Dear Gambia. Now remember if you have already forgotten that it is my Thoughts, not me thinking out loud about this I am writing. You see, my Thoughts have this notion of Constructive Support and Adding Value to Issues of Concern to The Gambia and Africa. I respecfully thank you for permitting my Thoughts to Contribute. I would like to add Judges to the “Fish Bowl”. A Significant number of African Judges or Jurist, my Thoughts inform me that this includes Gambian Judges’ too, are Political Appointees who are Not Tenued. Thus, the Judges’ Independence and Ability to Strictly and Judiciously Arbitrate is Usual than not Compromised by the Pressure from the Executive Branch and its other Gate-keepers. Of course, it would be a Self imposed Naivete and Dishonesty for one to place the entire Cancerous Affair under the Executive Branch and its other Gate-keepers as the Culprits. The Road to Obtaining Justice in Africa including the Gambia is littered with Corrupt and Corruptive Practices by Some Judges and Attorneys/Lawyers. We should First or in Tandem Resolve the Macro Level Legal Malfeasance of the Judges and
Lawyers who “Game the System” they took an Oath “To Uphold And To Protect”, but instead Collude and Canive Between and Among themselves for Monetary, Career Advancement or both. These Acts of Malpractice, Malfeasance and Subvertion of Justice which Aided and Abetted by the Public is just Simply Wrong, but Distructive to the Administration of Due Process and Equal Access To Protection Under the Law. This in turn sets in Motion a feeling of Lawlessness which Breeds Contempt and Lack of
Legitimacy of the Judiciary And Law Enforcement as a Whole. A Significant number of Judges and Lawyers especially, the Criminal Defense Lawyers and Prosecutors who are Government employees (the Prosecutors), are allegedly Some of the Worst Culprits. Low Salaries but having to Keep a High Standard of Living, all but encourages Bribe taking be it in Kind or Cash. Bribes are taken, and as result, Files go Missing, if not missing, the Cases are I’ll prepareed or not Adequately Represented or Presented to a Judge who may also be on the “Take”. The Looser is guaranteed before the Proceedings of the Case. That is,
if One is “Resource Challenged” aka “Poor” and Seeking Justice Against a “Non-Resource Challenged Opponent” aka Rich. Paradoxically, when Judges and or Lawyers are Accused and Charged with a Crime in most Cases in Africa including the Gambia (with the recent exception in Ghana where the “Government allegedly went after “Corrupt Judges”), in most Cases they are not Arrested for the kind of Corruption Corruption and Corruptive Practices I am writing about here. “Ahh, Ah”, “Hanni”, “Dae Daite”, No. Instead, they are mostly Arrested for Political Reasons even though the Judge or Lawyer in question may have a Long known history of Ilegal Activities that are Clearly Malpractice in Nature. The Executive Branch and the “Gate-Keepers” look the other way or Close their Eyes and Ears to the Malpractice and Malfeasance. That is, until the Executive Branch or a “V.I.P.” Official is Affected. Then only then, the Instruments and the Weight of the Law are Collectively Dropped on the “Culprit”. Before asking our Legal Practitioners to Turn Civil Rights Agitators fighting the Institutions and Personalities in Government, we Need to “Clean House”, the Court Houses in the Gambia and throughout Africa and Beyond. Judges Should be Tenued, Vetted, Evaluated by their Peers by an Independent Oversight Board to Mitigate the Temptation of Corruption and Corruptive Practices that will always be lurking and hovering around them. The same Should apply to Prosecutors as well. If Found Wanting or Involved in Malfeasance, they should be Charged Accordingly and Sentenced to the Maximum Period Allowed by the law they were Supposed to “Uphold And Protect” but Failed. The Criminal Lawyers too Should be Subjected to an Oversight Evaluation and Review Board by their Peers and an Oversight Legal Board at least Every Three Years to Ensure that they are keeping up with the Expected Best Practices Standards of the Legal Profession. Now, that we have “Cleaned House”, the Court Houses off of the Worst Culprits, let’s go get the “Big Fishes” in the Executive, and the Legislative Branches. But be Careful, Walk and Work Softly, because these are Sharks and such an Adventure Can Prove Harzardous To Ones’ Health…. But let’s us try. The question now is, Who will Bell the Cats, I mean the Sharks. On second thought, may be in the Gambia’s case, my Thoughts and Suggestions need to Marinate with the Shark meat for a better part of this year, 2017, then we can Prepare our Collective National Dish….
Good idea and a good Period to begin such an Undertaking, that is during the Transition Period. Since it is about Lawyers being Courageous and willing to Step Forward Against Impunity, Please Permit me to Add, Not Subtract the Need to Expose and Agitate Against Malfeasance at any and all Levels of Society, but especially, within Many African Governments’ Judiciary including Our Dear Gambia’s. Now remember if you have already forgotten that it is my Thoughts, not me thinking out loud about what I am writing. You see, my Thoughts have this notion of Constructive Support and Adding Value to Issues of Concern to The Gambia and Africa. I respecfully thank you for permitting my Thoughts to Contribute. I would like to add Judges to the “Fish Bowl”. A Significant number of African Judges or Jurist, my Thoughts inform me that this includes Gambian Judges’ too, are Political Appointees who are Not Tenued. Thus, the Judges’ Independence and Ability to Strictly and Judiciously Arbitrate is Usual than not Compromised by the Pressure from the Executive Branch and its other Gate-keepers. Of course, it would be a Self imposed Naivete and Dishonesty for one to Place the Entire Cancerous Affair under the Executive Branch and its other Gate-keepers as the Culprits. The Road to Obtaining Justice in Africa including the Gambia is littered with Corrupt and Corruptive Practices by Some Judges and Attorneys/Lawyers. We should First or in Tandem Resolve the Macro Level Legal Malfeasance of the Judges and
Lawyers who “Game the System” they took an Oath “To Uphold And To Protect”, but instead Collude and Canive Between and Among themselves for Monetary, Career Advancement or both. These Acts of Malpractice, Malfeasance and Subversion of Justice which is Aided and Abetted by the Public is Not just Simply Wrong, but Distructive to the Administration of Due Process and Equal Access To and Protection Under the Law. This in turn Sets in Motion a feeling of Lawlessness which Breeds Contempt and Lack of
Legitimacy of the Judiciary And Law Enforcement as a Whole. A Significant number of Judges and Lawyers especially, the Criminal Defense Lawyers and Prosecutors who are Government employees (the Prosecutors), are allegedly Some of the Worst Culprits. Low Salaries but having to Keep a High Standard of Living because of Society’s expectations of a Lawyer, all but encourages Bribe Taking, be it in Kind or Cash. Bribes are taken, and as result, Files go Missing, if not missing, the Cases are I’ll Prepareed or not Adequately Represented or Presented to a Judge who may also be on the “Take”. The Looser is guaranteed before the Proceedings of the Case begins. That is, especially,
if One is “Resource Challenged” aka “Poor” and Seeking Justice Against a “Non-Resource Challenged Opponent” aka Rich opponent. Paradoxically, when Judges and or Lawyers are Accused and Charged with a Crime in most Cases in Africa including the Gambia (with the recent exception in Ghana where the “Government allegedly went after “Corrupt Judges”), in most Cases they are not Arrested for the kind of Corruption and Corruptive Practices I am writing about here. “Ahh, Ah”, “Hanni”, “Dae Daite”, No. Instead, they are mostly Arrested for Political Reasons even though the Judge or Lawyer in question may have a Long known history of Ilegal Activities that are Clearly Malpractice in Nature. The Executive Branch and the “Gate-Keepers” look the other way or Close their Eyes and Ears to the Malpractice and Malfeasance. That is, until the Executive Branch or a “V.I.P.” Official is Affected Directly or Indirectly. Then the Instruments and the Weight of the Law are Collectively Dropped on the “Culprit”. Before asking our Legal Practitioners to Turn Civil Rights Agitators fighting the Institutions and Personalities in Government, we Need to “Clean House”, the Court Houses in the Gambia and throughout Africa. Judges Should be Tenued, following a Credible and Internationally Acceptable Vetting Process, and Evaluated by their Peers and by an Independent Oversight Board to Mitigate the Temptation of Corruption and Corruptive Practices that is always Lurking and Hovering around them at the Courthouse as well as at Home. The same Should apply to Prosecutors as well. If Found Wanting or Involved in Malfeasance, they Should be Charged Accordingly and if Found Guilty, Sentenced to the Maximum Period Allowed by the Law they were Supposed to “Uphold And Protect” but Failed. The Criminal Lawyers too Should be Subjected to an Oversight Evaluation and Review Board by their Peers and an Oversight Legal Board at least Every Three Years to Ensure that they are Keeping Up with the Expected Best Practices Standards of the Legal Profession. Now, that we have “Cleaned House”, the Court Houses off of the Worst Culprits, let’s go get the “Big Fishes” in the Executive, and the Legislative Branches. But be Careful, Walk and Work Softly, and Diligently because these are “Sharks” and Such an Adventure Can Prove Harzardous To Ones’ Health…. But let’s us try. The question now is, Who will Bell the Cats, I mean the “Sharks”. On Second Thought, may be in the Gambia’s Case, my Thoughts and Suggestions Need to Marinate with the Shark meat for a Better Part of this Year, 2017, then we can Prepare our Collective National Dish….
Dont beat about the bush, just be aware of the corrupt lawyers and dont give them your business. Simples.
That should not be applicable to lawyers only, but all patriotic citizens. Judging by Yerro Jallows’ rambles on the online media recently, he has failed the exams he is setting for lawyers. That should be a great concern yo all lawyers. Advocating for truth, equity, transparency justice and yet clamoring for one taxpayer to be treated above the law and above every other taxpayer in The Gambia is absolute hypocrisy. Wake up from your slumber.