THE GENERAL Legal Council (GLC) is pushing to have tough new sanctions in place to clamp down on lawyers within its rank who breach ethical or professional guidelines.
The GLC which is responsible for the administration and discipline of the members of the legal profession under the Legal Profession Act, wants the authority to seize assets and law practice of convicted lawyers and, in certain instances, of deceased colleagues. The GCL is expecting this to take effect by year end.
The hope is that the measures will "restore lost confidence in the legal profession", says a statement released on Friday by the GLC in which it said it had submitted the recommendations to the Government.
The Council said the recommendations were against the background of "growing concern over the increase in the number of attorneys found guilty of professional misconduct in recent times".
Former Resident Magistrate, Norma Von Cork, was sent to prison for 12 months in 2002 after she was found guilty, along with four others, of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. She was the first RM to be found guilty of an offence while sitting on the Bench.
In December 1999, Sonia Jones was convicted and sentenced to 18 months at hard labour in a case involving two clients.
The statement said also that at a recent meeting it was agreed that the compulsory continuing education should be a requirement for attorneys at all levels to remain in practice, as well as the Council's intervention in the practice of attorneys who have been convicted of serious breaches of the Canons of Ethics.
