{UAH} “FASTIDIOUS MAGGIE” MAKES THE BENCH – CRY ALL YE BELOVED LAWYERS!!
|
4:43 AM |
No comments |
Author's Credit: Gawaya Tegulle
"FASTIDIOUS MAGGIE" MAKES THE BENCH – CRY ALL YE BELOVED LAWYERS!!
=========================================
I thought Fred was just being difficult – something many of Uganda's civil servants take immense pleasure in; making even the simplest of tasks unduly complicated. I honestly didn't think anyone ought to make an issue of this. Having been an editor for many years, I naturally pay attention to detail – spellings, formatting, layout, grammar, punctuation. But this was not a newspaper in question, just a document that, for all I cared, nobody would even bother to read, like most docs that go to government ministries, departments and agencies.
The document was a statutory declaration about the order of my names; and I think there was a misplaced comma somewhere and bad numbering of a paragraph, a little further down the page. Nothing really serious; in fact, nothing that anyone would notice. Only an editor or someone unduly fastidious would even notice it, let alone take issue with it.
That was a decade ago, and I was submitting my documents to the Law Council, for enrollment as an advocate of the High Court of Uganda. The advocate enrollment protocol in Uganda is quite intensive and tiring; I had been at this game for so long, I was tired and eager to just file my papers and go home.
Fred, a seasoned civil servant is a permanent fixture in the Registry of the Law Council; the type that stay in positions for so long, they know the ins and outs of the system, and will tell you what works and what doesn't.
"Go and amend this," he pointed at the little errors, "or else the application will be rejected," he said, quietly.
The idiot in me took over. I didn't take too kindly to being told what to do by a clerk. I firmly told Fred to accept my application and send it to the powers that be. He quietly agreed and said nothing more of the matter.
My phone rang two or three weeks later. It was Fred. And he informed me, matter-of-factly that my application had been rejected, because of the two small mistakes. But so professional was Fred, he didn't taunt me with the probable "I told you so".
I hadn't eaten humble pie in a long time; Ms. Margaret Apiny, Secretary of the Law Council (who is in essence the "Permanent Secretary" and face of the institution) made me eat it with a big spoon.
I picked my papers and walked out of Georgian House – for that is where Law Council is housed – like a weather-beaten chicken. My impudence had cost me a lot of time.
I immediately developed a very healthy respect for Margaret Apiny (hereinafter, "Fastidious Maggie", in the alternative). Few public officers have the attention to detail that she has. It turns out she reads every application word by word, line by line and throws out those with errors. Sloppy doesn't cut it with her. It appears she believes that a lawyer who is allowed into practice with mistakes on their papers will in all likelihood be sloppy in practice.
At the enrollment ceremony at High Court "Main", a very quiet Ms. Apiny sat alongside the Chief Registrar of the Courts of Judicature (H.W Henry Adonyo, as he then was), with a poker face. We only felt her presence when she interrupted proceedings to reprimand a lawyer who had worn his gown wrongly. There was actually nothing much wrong – I think the lapel had been placed back rather than forward. That, for Fastidious Maggie, was completely unforgivable. She lectured us on the importance of wearing the gown in a manner that rendered dignity to the profession.
And God help the lawyer who got a complaint registered at what Americans call the Ethics Board" – our Law Council Disciplinary Committee - by a client! Ms. Apiny has over the years ensured that no lawyer enjoys being summoned to answer charges of professional misconduct. It actually doesn't matter whether you are guilty or not; it is bad enough that you are facing charges!
I think that's why, when I picked my final docs of approval for enrollment, Fred (again quietly) told me, now that I had been cleared, "Goodbye Tegulle, don't come back". He felt it part of his duty to warn me to be a good boy, because he knew I wouldn't enjoy facing the Ethics Board, even if I eventually got cleared.
Truth is, many lawyers have found Ms. Apiny a cross between a rock and a hard place. Too strict, some say. Too harsh, others assure you. Very difficult, very this and very that.
The bigger truth though, is that Ms. Apiny has worked hard to make the law profession really professional, accountable and respectable. In a Uganda where many public bodies are deadwood, it must be said that if there is any department of the state that works, it is the Law Council. Ethics boards are generally meant to be tough and uncompromising, in order to ensure respectability to the profession in question. That tells you there are few countries where ethics boards are loved and adored. If they are loved, usually it means they are not functional. It's therefore unlikely Ms Apiny has been on the Christmas card list of many law firms.
Yet she has a human side, after all. One morning I went to Law Council, to pick our Certificate of Approval of Chambers, at seven o'clock. The clerk on duty declined to attend to me; explaining that he was busy chasing a deadline for his much-feared boss – Ms. Apiny. He was visibly panicking. I sat down, prepared for a long wait. Two minutes later, the cause of his terror walked in. When she saw me, she smiled, surprise, surprise! I told her the object of my visit and she, without even stepping in her office, went to the Registry, looked for my document and presented it to me. With a boss like that, why do you need a clerk?
Two weeks ago, not for the first time, I was assuring a group of lawyers that we should brace ourselves for the day Margaret Apiny makes Judge…!
Like legendary playwright T.S Elliot said in "MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL", "the moment foreseen is often unexpected when it arrives". I was amused when I saw news filtering through, a few days later, that our dear Fastidious Maggie had made the Bench.
The background of judicial officers almost always influences the way they conduct court, and shapes their decision-making.
Former prosecutors who become judges in criminal court are maybe the worst in this regard. Most think and talk like prosecutors and will somehow manage to return a verdict of guilt. Often times a keen defense attorney will find difficulty deciding whether he is listening to the prosecution or the court! Many state attorneys-turned-judges seem unaware that they are no longer part of the Attorney General's chambers, and hell will get snowy before they rule against government.
Former academics like Justice Stephen Mubiru write judgments in a
way that suggests they are compiling an award-winning textbook on the subject in issue.
As the person who has been running the Law Council, lawyers should expect Ms. Apiny to run her court as part-court and part-ethics board. Uncombed hair, unkempt beards, dirty flaps, wrinkled gowns, unpolished shoes and dirty fingernails will be more than sufficient to cause her lordship to demand that the lawyer produces their Practicing Certificate (PC), just to be sure that they even qualify to appear before her in the first place, and further, throw them out of her court. And for the hotshot corporate lawyers (Kampala Road, Nakasero and Kololo) who like wearing all those tough, expensive, nose-rending perfumes, you can be sure her lordship will put that on the record and direct a more acceptable cologne at the next hearing.
Anybody clever enough to show up in a suit with a weird colour or dubious hairdo, will be lucky to escape contempt proceedings. Badly prepared documents, you can safely bet, will be struck out with costs – to be paid by counsel!
Turning up late by plaintiff's counsel will in all likelihood attract a dismissal of the case; and will guarantee ex parte proceedings in case it is the fault of defendant's counsel.
Any unpreparedness to proceed will most certainly attract a harsh reprimand and costs of the day – to be paid by offending counsel! Leopards do not shed their spots. Fastidious Maggie, you can bet, will still be same old same. Cry, all ye beloved lawyers!
--
-- "FASTIDIOUS MAGGIE" MAKES THE BENCH – CRY ALL YE BELOVED LAWYERS!!
=========================================
I thought Fred was just being difficult – something many of Uganda's civil servants take immense pleasure in; making even the simplest of tasks unduly complicated. I honestly didn't think anyone ought to make an issue of this. Having been an editor for many years, I naturally pay attention to detail – spellings, formatting, layout, grammar, punctuation. But this was not a newspaper in question, just a document that, for all I cared, nobody would even bother to read, like most docs that go to government ministries, departments and agencies.
The document was a statutory declaration about the order of my names; and I think there was a misplaced comma somewhere and bad numbering of a paragraph, a little further down the page. Nothing really serious; in fact, nothing that anyone would notice. Only an editor or someone unduly fastidious would even notice it, let alone take issue with it.
That was a decade ago, and I was submitting my documents to the Law Council, for enrollment as an advocate of the High Court of Uganda. The advocate enrollment protocol in Uganda is quite intensive and tiring; I had been at this game for so long, I was tired and eager to just file my papers and go home.
Fred, a seasoned civil servant is a permanent fixture in the Registry of the Law Council; the type that stay in positions for so long, they know the ins and outs of the system, and will tell you what works and what doesn't.
"Go and amend this," he pointed at the little errors, "or else the application will be rejected," he said, quietly.
The idiot in me took over. I didn't take too kindly to being told what to do by a clerk. I firmly told Fred to accept my application and send it to the powers that be. He quietly agreed and said nothing more of the matter.
My phone rang two or three weeks later. It was Fred. And he informed me, matter-of-factly that my application had been rejected, because of the two small mistakes. But so professional was Fred, he didn't taunt me with the probable "I told you so".
I hadn't eaten humble pie in a long time; Ms. Margaret Apiny, Secretary of the Law Council (who is in essence the "Permanent Secretary" and face of the institution) made me eat it with a big spoon.
I picked my papers and walked out of Georgian House – for that is where Law Council is housed – like a weather-beaten chicken. My impudence had cost me a lot of time.
I immediately developed a very healthy respect for Margaret Apiny (hereinafter, "Fastidious Maggie", in the alternative). Few public officers have the attention to detail that she has. It turns out she reads every application word by word, line by line and throws out those with errors. Sloppy doesn't cut it with her. It appears she believes that a lawyer who is allowed into practice with mistakes on their papers will in all likelihood be sloppy in practice.
At the enrollment ceremony at High Court "Main", a very quiet Ms. Apiny sat alongside the Chief Registrar of the Courts of Judicature (H.W Henry Adonyo, as he then was), with a poker face. We only felt her presence when she interrupted proceedings to reprimand a lawyer who had worn his gown wrongly. There was actually nothing much wrong – I think the lapel had been placed back rather than forward. That, for Fastidious Maggie, was completely unforgivable. She lectured us on the importance of wearing the gown in a manner that rendered dignity to the profession.
And God help the lawyer who got a complaint registered at what Americans call the Ethics Board" – our Law Council Disciplinary Committee - by a client! Ms. Apiny has over the years ensured that no lawyer enjoys being summoned to answer charges of professional misconduct. It actually doesn't matter whether you are guilty or not; it is bad enough that you are facing charges!
I think that's why, when I picked my final docs of approval for enrollment, Fred (again quietly) told me, now that I had been cleared, "Goodbye Tegulle, don't come back". He felt it part of his duty to warn me to be a good boy, because he knew I wouldn't enjoy facing the Ethics Board, even if I eventually got cleared.
Truth is, many lawyers have found Ms. Apiny a cross between a rock and a hard place. Too strict, some say. Too harsh, others assure you. Very difficult, very this and very that.
The bigger truth though, is that Ms. Apiny has worked hard to make the law profession really professional, accountable and respectable. In a Uganda where many public bodies are deadwood, it must be said that if there is any department of the state that works, it is the Law Council. Ethics boards are generally meant to be tough and uncompromising, in order to ensure respectability to the profession in question. That tells you there are few countries where ethics boards are loved and adored. If they are loved, usually it means they are not functional. It's therefore unlikely Ms Apiny has been on the Christmas card list of many law firms.
Yet she has a human side, after all. One morning I went to Law Council, to pick our Certificate of Approval of Chambers, at seven o'clock. The clerk on duty declined to attend to me; explaining that he was busy chasing a deadline for his much-feared boss – Ms. Apiny. He was visibly panicking. I sat down, prepared for a long wait. Two minutes later, the cause of his terror walked in. When she saw me, she smiled, surprise, surprise! I told her the object of my visit and she, without even stepping in her office, went to the Registry, looked for my document and presented it to me. With a boss like that, why do you need a clerk?
Two weeks ago, not for the first time, I was assuring a group of lawyers that we should brace ourselves for the day Margaret Apiny makes Judge…!
Like legendary playwright T.S Elliot said in "MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL", "the moment foreseen is often unexpected when it arrives". I was amused when I saw news filtering through, a few days later, that our dear Fastidious Maggie had made the Bench.
The background of judicial officers almost always influences the way they conduct court, and shapes their decision-making.
Former prosecutors who become judges in criminal court are maybe the worst in this regard. Most think and talk like prosecutors and will somehow manage to return a verdict of guilt. Often times a keen defense attorney will find difficulty deciding whether he is listening to the prosecution or the court! Many state attorneys-turned-judges seem unaware that they are no longer part of the Attorney General's chambers, and hell will get snowy before they rule against government.
Former academics like Justice Stephen Mubiru write judgments in a
way that suggests they are compiling an award-winning textbook on the subject in issue.
As the person who has been running the Law Council, lawyers should expect Ms. Apiny to run her court as part-court and part-ethics board. Uncombed hair, unkempt beards, dirty flaps, wrinkled gowns, unpolished shoes and dirty fingernails will be more than sufficient to cause her lordship to demand that the lawyer produces their Practicing Certificate (PC), just to be sure that they even qualify to appear before her in the first place, and further, throw them out of her court. And for the hotshot corporate lawyers (Kampala Road, Nakasero and Kololo) who like wearing all those tough, expensive, nose-rending perfumes, you can be sure her lordship will put that on the record and direct a more acceptable cologne at the next hearing.
Anybody clever enough to show up in a suit with a weird colour or dubious hairdo, will be lucky to escape contempt proceedings. Badly prepared documents, you can safely bet, will be struck out with costs – to be paid by counsel!
Turning up late by plaintiff's counsel will in all likelihood attract a dismissal of the case; and will guarantee ex parte proceedings in case it is the fault of defendant's counsel.
Any unpreparedness to proceed will most certainly attract a harsh reprimand and costs of the day – to be paid by offending counsel! Leopards do not shed their spots. Fastidious Maggie, you can bet, will still be same old same. Cry, all ye beloved lawyers!
--
"When a man is stung by a bee, he doesn't set off to destroy all beehives"
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ugandans at Heart (UAH) Community" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ugandans-at-heart/CAFxDTfo4P_KFyoWECZyKia0RfiVqhZpnO%2BfkC5Mpp67JSA8M%2BA%40mail.gmail.com.
0 comments:
Post a Comment