Rwanda Bar Assoc suspends 96 lawyers
Rwanda Bar Association has suspended 96 lawyers. According to President of Rwanda Bar Association Moïse Nkundabarashi, the suspension ranges from one month to a year, based on the severity of various professional offences including failure to pay yearly contributions in line with deadlines.
The New Times has since learnt that 20 lawyers were suspended for one month, 1 was suspended for two months, 12 were suspended for three months and 8 were suspended for four months.
Others include 30 lawyers who were suspended for six months, 1 was suspended for eight months, 3 were suspended for nine months, whilst 21 were suspended for a year.
“There is a procedure that is followed before suspending a lawyer. It starts with the president filing a case before the disciplinary and ethics committee, then the lawyer is summoned and allowed to come in with his attorney to respect the right to defense,” Nkundabarashi said.
“This is followed by a decision from the committee that is communicated to the lawyer and concerned organs because the suspended person is not allowed to practice anywhere during the suspension period,” he added.
Suspended lawyers have a right to go to court and challenge the Bar’s decision and according to Nkundabarashi, although none of the 96 has challenged the decision, the Bar also reserves the right to defence.
When asked about the implication of the Bar’s decision and whether it yields more punitive measures if a lawyer decides to ignore it and continue practicing, Nkundabarashi said, “It is a very dangerous situation for any suspended lawyer to continue to practice. That would amount to a criminal offense and there is a provision in the panel code that provides for prosecution of that.”
Every year, a lawyer is supposed to pay Rwf 750,000 to the Bar and paid in two instalments. Of that, Rwf 500,000 covers their medical insurance and their families.
However, there are lawyers who paid right after the deadline had passed and those were suspended for a month. There are those that didn’t pay and also failed to show up before the disciplinary and ethics committee, those were given six months, while those that got one year are the recidivists that have over the years refused to pay their contributions.
“There are offenses like lawyers who do not abide by the agreements they enter into with their clients. We have warned these lawyers over and over. We encourage the public to always document through writing every engagement and agreement they have with the lawyers,” Nkundabarashi said.
There are currently over 1500 lawyers registered with the Bar association and more are expected to join this year, although Nkundabarashi said that the suspension of the 96 will not affect the ongoing cases in court since there are enough lawyers that would take them on.
If a lawyer continuously gets sanctioned or commits a serious offense, they risk being banned from ever practicing law.
This is not the first time lawyers are suspended, in fact, according to Nkundabarashi, it’s a routine practice. From 2019 to 2021, four lawyers were dismissed from their jobs while 207 were suspended.
It is important to anchor the point that in 2019, there were 109 lawyers suspended, in 2020 the number went down to 79 people while in 2021 there were only 18 suspended.
There is a good reason why you should support the African Editors. Not everyone can afford to pay for news right now. That is why we keep our journalism open for everyone to read, including in Ghana. If this is you, please continue to read for free. But if you are able to, then there are three good reasons to support us today.
1. Our quality, journalism is a scrutinising force at a time when the rich and powerful are getting away with more and more.
2. We are independent and have no billionaire owner pulling the strings, so your money directly powers our reporting.
3. It doesn’t cost much, and takes less time than it took to read this message.
Help power the African Editors' journalism for the years to come, whether with a small sum or a larger one. If you can, please support us on a monthly basis from just 1 Ghana Cedi through mobile money number: 0599896099/ +23359989609 and you can be rest assured that you’re making a big impact every single month in support of open, independent journalism. Thank you.
