TLS up in arms against govt reforms in the legal profession
What you need to know:
The lawyer’s umbrella body convened an extra-ordinary general meeting in Dar es Salaam to deliberate on the wide-ranging reform of the profession contained in the government proposal.
Dar es Salaam. The Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) yesterday launched a spirited campaign against government’s plan to introduce massive reforms in the legal profession, claiming the move was calculated to curtail the independence of the bar.
The lawyer’s umbrella body convened an extra-ordinary general meeting in Dar es Salaam to deliberate on the wide-ranging reform of the profession contained in the government proposal.
The proposed reform, according to TLS, include establishment of Advocates Registration board that will control admission of lawyers into the profession and renew their practicing certificates.
TLS feels that the proposed reforms were a greatest threat on its existence and the independent bar in Tanzania. “We meet here today because TLS is in mortal danger of being legislated out of existence. These proposals portend the most serious danger to the existence of the TLS and the independence of the legal profession in our country,” said TLS president Tundu Lissu when officiating the meeting.
He told lawyers that the proposed changes which are yet to be put in a form of a bill or Government White paper seeks to exert greater state control over the legal profession.
The TLS convenes its meeting just a day after the Acting Chief Justice Ibrahim Juma allayed widespread suspicions among lawyers that the government was plotting to de-register their body. He said on Thursday shortly after a ceremony for admission of 248 advocates that the proposed changes were not targeting any individual or institution.
