In a workshop held on August 30th, Bujumbura Bar Association has said corruption is the main challenge that Burundian lawyers face in their daily job.
“Some of our lawyers and judges are corrupt,” says Jean de Dieu Muhuzenge, President of Bujumbura Bar Association.
Jean de Dieu Muhuzenge (on the left): “A lawyer must be independent, just and trustworthy”
He says there are lawyers who know more judges than the laws. “They are always in contact with judges and schedule bribery-based appointments,” he says.
For him, some judges corrupt lawyers and condemn innocent people. “Some judges refuse to implement judicial decisions which have not been appealed against,” he says.
Mr. Muhuzenge calls on lawyers to work in accordance with the law and their professional code of ethics. For him, lawyers and judges should be punished in case they are found guilty of corruption.
“A lawyer must be independent, just and trustworthy,” he says.
Sylvestre Banzubaze, a lawyer in Bujumbura Bar Association says lawyers and judges should learn about their professional code of ethics.
“Lawyers should know their rights and duties,” he says adding that they should combat any kind of corruption.
“Corruption is a big problem to the justice and lawyers’ profession,” says a participant in the workshop adding that it should be ended.
“There are lawyers who confuse their work with that of commission agents,” says Nadine Nsabimana, Chairperson for Bujumbura City Court of Appeal adding that some lawyers do not work diligently to satisfy their clients.
She calls on the representatives of the bar to have careful supervision over the lawyers and punish those who break the law.
The workshop was organized on the occasion of the opening of the 2019-2020 judicial year.
IWACU Open Data
