Lawyers barred from talking without permission

The Cameroon Bar Council has called on Lawyers to “desist from talking to the media on the controversial Penal Code without the permission of the Bar President.

This was one of the resolutions adopted during an enlarged meeting of the Cameroon Bar Council convened by Bar Council President, Jackson Ngnie Kamga, which held in Douala on June 28.

The meeting was to deliberate on the Cameroon Penal Code bill recently adopted by MPs.

During the meeting, the Bar Council resolved to petition the Head of State, Paul Biya, on the consequences of promulgating the draft Penal Code.

While members of the Bar Council were meeting in Douala, Senators were meeting in Yaounde to review and possibly adopt the bill.

Meanwhile, since the adoption of the Code by MPs, lawyers have been venting out their opinions on various issues of the bill.

Lawyers in Bamenda and Kumba took to the streets, protesting against the bill. A new association of Lawyers, Coalition of the Willing, met in Muyuka, while Lawyers in Douala called off a planned protest march on June 27, after they were asked by the Bar Council President to wait for the outcome of the Bar Council meeting.

The Post learnt that executives of the Bar has been condemning the protest marches organised by Lawyers.

Less than 24 hours after the Bar Council meeting, Barrister Harmony Bobga Mbuton, was on a live telephone interview on Equinox Radio. Bobga, among other things, threatened that if President Biya goes ahead to sign the bill into law, Lawyers will take the matter first to the Constitutional Court, and if the court does not take the appropriate decision, Lawyers will take the matter to the International Court on Human Rights.

Below is the communiqué released by the Bar Council at the end of the June 28 meeting in Douala.

PRESS RELEASE:

The enlarged Cameroon Bar Council, convened in an extraordinary session by the Bar President to include the Bureau of the General Assembly and members of the Consultative Council of the Wise (made up of past Bar Presidents) at Douala, this 28th Day of June 2016;

Notes with disappointment the manner in which the Minister of State, Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals addressed the Bar President, and by extension, the entire Cameroon Bar Association at the rostrum of the National Assembly;

And draws the attention of the public and the international community to the following:

1- That with regard to the debated December 2011 draft Penal Code, the present draft undergoing scrutiny at the National Assembly has not only failed to take into consideration the shortcomings of the 50 years old Penal Code but has violated many International Conventions to which Cameroon is signatory;

2- That both in form and content, the draft under review in Parliament is to a greater extent, different from that debated in December 2011;

3- That the present draft Penal Code has in effect, put in place the discriminatory discharge of Justice whereby the powerful and rich persons of society are privileged to the detriment of the weak and poor. Examples include the criminalization of the non-payment of rents and the non-respect of court judgments;

4- This draft Penal Code puts national cohesion and the constitutionally protected State policy of bilingualism at risk, for in some of the dispositions, there are gross disparities in interpretation and onward application throughout the national territory between the English and French versions;

5- This draft Penal Code puts to question the policy of crime and punishment as defined by the President of the Republic in the fight against corruption through its failure to address Offences such as undue enrichment and the non-declaration of assets in compliance with Article 66 of the Constitution, all issues that were debated and positions taken in December 2011;

6- In consequence of the totality of the foregoing, the Bar Council hereby:

a) Acknowledges with appreciation the restraint, sense of responsibility and patriotism so far displayed by Advocates in the face of this challenge;

b) Decides to forthwith petition the Head Of State and draw his attention to the consequences of the final adoption and promulgation of the draft Penal Code;

c) Calls on the Advocates to desist from making pronouncements over the media on the subject matter without the permission of the Bar President first sought;

d) Announce the convening of an extraordinary General Assembly of the Cameroon Bar Association in the days ahead with a view to evaluating the situation and defining the way forward.

Done at Douala this 28TH JUNE 2016

Jackson Ngnie Kamga

Bar President