Justice and Constitutional Development Minister, Ronald Lamola, has urged the newly launched Office of the Legal Service Ombud to \u201cvigorously\u201d investigate complaints against legal practitioners, whose conduct is unbecoming of the legal profession.<\/p>\n
He was speaking during the launch of the Legal Ombud in Pretoria on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cLegal professionals interact with and represent members of the public before the legal system regularly. In their interactions with legal practitioners, members of the public must never have a sense of powerlessness, moreover when their rights are grossly violated. People must be encouraged to speak out against maladministration with the certainty that their complaints will be taken seriously,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Legal Ombud is headed by retired judge Justice Siraj Desai and is aimed at creating an \u201caccountable legal profession\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n
According to Lamola, the Ombud will be tasked with \u201cinvestigating complaints, alleged maladministration and actions which may affect the integrity of the legal profession\u201d within the ambit of the Legal Practice Act.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect [the Ombud] to work independently and not sweep complaints under the carpet. So to Justice Desai and his team, we are confident that you will indeed put an end to a spectacle where lawyers protected each other when faced with scrutiny arising from conduct not consistent with high standards of the legal profession.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe urge you to pursue complaints vigorously so that your responses can inspire confidence and provide solutions to our people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Minister said although dishonesty is frowned upon in the legal fraternity, those seeking legal assistance are at times exposed to underhanded representatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no doubt that all of us take a dim view of legal practitioners who misrepresent their clients, as we want a legal profession which commands consumer confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cDistressingly, common problems of misrepresentation, such as lawyers robbing clients of payouts from the Road Accident Fund, lawyers colluding with peers at the expense of their clients, lawyers being dishonest and incompetent, to name but a few, have characterised some of the legal firms in the country,\u201d Lamola said.<\/p>\n
However, he said that the majority of legal practitioners in the country have \u201cconducted themselves faithfully\u201d to the practice and their clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey continually apply themselves consistent with the expected professional decorum.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are lawyers who, through their conduct, demonstrate mastery of the letter of the law and impact positively on the lives of our people. These are lawyers who embody excellence and passion of the law. We encourage young and emerging lawyers to emulate them and represent the interests of the people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Source: South African Government News Agency<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Justice and Constitutional Development Minister, Ronald Lamola, has urged the newly launched Office of the Legal Service Ombud to \u201cvigorously\u201d investigate complaints against legal practitioners, whose conduct is unbecoming of the legal profession.He wa…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n