07 Aug 2013

Parliament on Tuesday passed the Legal Practitioners (Amendment) Bill which is to be aligned to the recently passed Legal Aid Act.

When presenting the bill, the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Dikgakgamatso Seretse said legal practitioners would be required to serve a certain number of hours of pro deo or pro bono (done without asking for payment ) work before they could be issued with practicing certificates.

He however said this would apply on those applying for a practicing certificate for the first time. Minister Seretse said the Legal Practitioners Act was therefore being amended to facilitate this process by requiring practitioners to serve a portion of the pro bono or pro deo work at Legal Aid Botswana.

The minister said, during the time they provided their services to Legal Aid Botswana, the legal practitioners might have to advertise their services, something which could run foul of the professional ethics but they would be exempted from being labeled a misconduct.

He said the Legal Aid council would be empowered to make procedures for the certification of Law Clinics while the Law society would be empowered to make procedures for annual certification of legal practitioners in consultation with Legal Aid Botswana. ENDS