Maseru
Spokesperson for Law Society Advocate Lintle Tuke conveyed some matters to members of media who were congregated at a press conference held on Wednesday 12 June 2024 at Lancer’s Inn.
Advocate Tuke and his colleagues representing the Law Society who included advocates Ithabeleng Phamotse, Mokhoro Makara, Molemo Jae and Rethabile Setlojoane in absentia invited the media to a briefing where they made a two faceted announcement. He illustrated to say as Law Society of Lesotho, they have established an in-house legal aid unit.
The motive is to provide legal assistance to the disadvantaged and vulnerable population. The unit also aims to tackle the visible gaps in accessing justice. Advocating for human rights and supporting victims of gender-based violence among other key areas is the unit’s priority. This initiative aligns with the society’s commitment and mandate which is statutory in upholding the rule of law. Law Society is cognizant of the malfunctions in issues pertaining to justice whereby many Basotho encounter barriers when it comes to accessing legal representation due to many factors i.e. financial constraints. The unit will surely cater for vulnerable groups such as women, children, and other marginalized groups.
Despite there being other existing legal aid mechanisms such as legal aid clinic (NUL), NGOs and other strategic partners, it is quite evident there is a deficit and Law Society seeks to bridge the gap. Advocate Tuke put emphasis on Law Society not assuming a take-over, they are merely going to lend a helping hand and partner with those with the same agenda. He assured there will be no competing with or against those strategic partners. The objectives they will focus on are improving access to justice, advocating for human rights, supporting victims of GBV as well as strengthening legal education and awareness.
Representation will be for all types of cases. Civil cases (family law, property disputes, consumer rights, labor related issues), criminal cases and mitigating human rights issues. Some of the strategic partners they are to collaborate and join forces with are the government, high court, and NGOs. According to the advocate, they are already in ‘cahoots’ and what is being done is to formalize and put more structure to a relationship which already exists and is ongoing.
Law Society is a statutory body formed as an act of parliament under the Law Society Act 11 of 1983. Over the years, they have noticed some of the inconsistencies and inefficiencies of the society which ought to be rectified and they are working hard to do so. “… we have already started to do some of the things which came out as suggestions as to what Law Society should do but is not doing. The biggest glaring issue was the Law Society is not serious about enforcing the law in this country…”, reverted Tuke. He further added to say they have been intentional about all issues in spite of the challenges they face when doing so.
When asked whether pro bono cases will be considered, the response was yes. However, there will be conditions. It will depend on the nature of the case and particular guidelines will be followed. A client’s income will determine the merits of which acceptance or declination will be granted but these merits will be further communicated. It is also important to note no monthly fees will be expected from clients.
On the other hand, the second part of the briefing was an opportunity for Law Society to clear allegations which have been made about them having controversy with NGOs. He affirmed the rumors to be false and said they are tantamount to causing instability and confusion. He said those spreading these tittle-tattles have their own reasons and vendettas. Law Society does not register NGOs therefore they cannot inhibit their presence let alone their functionality said Advocate Tuke. The only thing linking the society with NGOs is because some of them assist Basotho with legal affairs of which they employ the use of legal practitioners who are members of Law Society by default.
The discourse arises where lawyers who come from these organizations single-handedly represent clients in the court of law, yet this contradicts the stipulations of the law. Not all lawyers can represent clients in court. Only attorneys at law firms, advocates at chambers, law officers and lawyers at parastatals can do so. Therefore, lawyers at NGOs should know the law prohibits them from representing clients and if a case reaches such a point, they need to deploy lawyers from the aforementioned categories.
The NGOs lawyer is only but limited to advising such an entity, beyond which the law clearly prohibits any involvement in court proceedings. He proudly mentioned TRC as being one of the NGOs which duly abide with this law whereas other NGOs which he did not mention do not comply. He said these NGOs pose as such yet the truth is they are inadvertently running law firms and chambers within those organizations. To make matters worse, when representing clients when representing clients, they charge them exorbitant amounts of money as though they are private law firms. Advocate Lintle Tuke confessed to having evidence of these malpractices. These NGOs further represent big companies which can afford to hire proper legal aid, yet they claim to assist the vulnerable. To this too, he said there is substantial evidence.
Notwithstanding cases whereby NGOs have squandered funds donated to assist Basotho. He says as Law Society they cannot afford to sit back and watch especially when these issues afflict justice and the law. The intent is to work together by passing the baton accordingly.
