LSB chair accuses judicial officers of corruption
Mpho Mokwape | Friday February 9, 2018 12:47
Addressing the opening of the legal year on Tuesday, Monthe called on Batswana to be more vigilant against corruption and bribery in the judiciary, which he said could prove a real challenge to the rule of law.
Monthe said that bribing of judicial officers and the scourge of corruption has the ability to make people lose confidence in the justice system.
“We have been spared for a better part of half-a-century the scourge of corruption and bribery of judicial officers by public and legal practitioners, but however we should remain vigilant against such,” he said.
Monthe assured the nation that his organisation, the LSB is working on a plan to uncover corruption by its members.
Their hope, he said, is that in due course those members of the LSB who are involved in corrupt acts would be brought to book.
Monthe said it has come to the attention of the LSB that legal practitioners are also recognising corruption in the judiciary.
“Our members, the legal practitioners are more and more speaking in hushed tones about the outcomes in the courts that seem to lack logic, in which a judgement or ruling bears no relationship with facts and or legal argument before the courts,” he said.
He explained that it would be remiss not to caution their members who engage in malpractice, as without an approach, corruption would not happen.
However, Monthe noted that corruption mostly happens in the dark corners and as such takes time to uncover, but they are committed on the issue so that involved in the menace are booked.
Also disturbing, Monthe said, was that the LSB has noted an upsurge of fraudsters who pretend to be legal practitioners.
“Most operate under the guise of operating consultancies. Some with law degrees but for various reasons not admitted to practise whilst other are outright imposters. It is important to root out menace as it is detrimental to the public,” he said.
Monthe cautioned the society to be vigilant and requested law enforces as police to assist in combating the issue.
Moreover, Monthe said they have also adopted attorney/client scale to combat issues of overcharging clients by legal practitioners.
This means that the scale can be used as a guide in agreeing fees between the parties, especially where there was no written agreement to the contrary.