The Lilongwe High court has dismissed an application by the Malawi Law Society (MLS) for judicial review on a proposal to allow paralegals to represent people in the country’s magistrate courts.
The development follows MLS’s objection to the proposed amendment of the Legal Aid Bureau to allow legal assistants to offer legal representation in lower courts which it claimed will result into a recipe for anarchy and lawlessness if not carefully managed.
In protest against the amendment, MLS sued Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs and its chairperson Peter Dimba challenging its mandate in engaging some stakeholders on the proposal.
However, delivering his ruling virtually, High Court judge, Justice Mike Tembo, downplayed the assertions by the Malawi Law Society saying the application which it filed on the matter was premature.
Justice Tembo said that the application was supposed to be filed in court after the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs had submitted its final report on the proposal and he then ordered MLS to pay all the cost of the case.
Reacting to the development, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, Peter Dimba, commended the high court for the ruling claiming it is protecting the Constitutional mandate of Parliament.
“This is commendable and it surely means that the court has protected the Constitutional mandate of Parliament and as a committee we are so happy with the ruling. We will continue doing our job without being intimidated by anyone,” said Dimba.
He further added that with this ruling, the committee will from November proceed with amendment processes to allow paralegals to offer legal representation in Malawi’s subordinate courts.
Meanwhile, secretary of the MLS Crispin Ngunde, has told the media that the society will not appeal the ruling but will just file their formal written submissions to the committee expressing their concerns and provide alternative solutions
