APM confers 10 as Senior Counsels
President Peter Mutharika has conferred on 10 legal practitioners the title of Senior Counsel (SC).
The list includes Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal judges.
Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale, who is among those given the title, confirmed in an interview yesterday that the Supreme Court of Appeal judges that made it are Frank Kapanda, Anaclet Chipeta, Lovemore Chikopa and Dunstain Mwaungulu.
Others, Kaphale said, are Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Samuel Tembenu and Solicitor General Janet Banda.
Private practice lawyers who applied for consideration and appear on the list the President approved, according to the AG, are Allan Chinula, n
Patrice Nkhono and Meyer Chisanga.
In an interview yesterday, Solicitor General Banda confirmed these appointments, saying they were made on February 11 2016.
On his part, Kaphale said a formal event by the President would be arranged to make the announcement.
For the AG and Solicitor General, he said, they qualify automatically after serving two years although officers holding those positions are entitled to apply and qualify before the set two years.
Explaining the weight of being called SC, MLS secretary Khumbo Soko yesterday said the title is an honour by the President in recognition of exceptional and exemplary practice at the bar.
“There are guidelines that are followed before one is conferred with that honour. One is that one must have practised law for a period of not less than 15 years and must have demonstrated leadership and should have contributed to the development of the law. So, the title SC is a prestigious honour really,” he said.
Most recent SC honours were made by former president Joyce Banda on August 13 2012. n
