RIGHT TO LEGAL REPRESENTATION IN CRIMINAL TRIALS AND ISSUES OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN NIGERIA: CASE LAW BASED APPRAISAL

Abstract

The ethical and professional obligations thrust on Counsel representing a defendant or accused person under the Nigerian legal system is often ignorantly misunderstood or taken lightly. In Nigeria, an accused person has the constitutional right to defend himself or through a legal practitioner of his choice. This offshoot of the right to fair hearing has been extended to mean that where a defendant is unable to retain the services of Counsel, depending on the degree of crime he is alleged to have committed and for which he is facing trial, the Court will assign legal representation to him pro bono. The challenge has always been whether this implies that the criminal defence can be handled lackadaisically? To determine the quantum of professional diligence required of defence Counsel in a criminal matter, whether retained by the defendant or appointed on pro bono basis, this paper deployed the doctrinal research method to examine relevant constitutional and other statutory provisions on the subject matter. The paper established that whether retained by the defendant or appointed pro bono, defence Counsel in a criminal trial must exhibit the highest degree of professional diligence failing which sanction for professional misconduct will follow under the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners Act, 2023. To engender transgenerational passage of high values and ethics in the legal practice, the paper suggested among other things that the Nigerian Bar Association must embark on continuous training and retraining of all lawyers on professionalism in legal representation.