Chief Justice to admit 30 new lawyers to the bar

Chief Justice (CJ) Andrew Nyirenda will tomorrow and on October 8 admit 30 new lawyers to the Malawi Bar.

The Registrar of the High Court and Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal Gladys Gondwe said on Tuesday the new lawyers are expected to ease the shortage of lawyers in the country.

She said out of the 30 new lawyers, 29 are graduates of the Malawi Institute of Legal Education while one is from the University of Malawi.

Gondwe said 19 of the lawyers are female.

She said: “The admission hearings have been split because they tend to attract more family members and close relations generally and to comply with covid-19 protocols for closed space events, specifically.”

This will be the second and third groups of new lawyers to be admitted to the Malawi Bar this year. The first group was admitted to the bar on June 9.

Gondwe said the lawyers from Malawi Institute of Legal Education completed their studies this year even though they are a 2020 cohort.

She said their studies were affected by Covid-19 that saw the institution closing twice.

According to Gondwe, the 30th new lawyer from the University of Malawi missed the 2020 admission due to other circumstances.

The cohort will be the third to graduate since Malawi Institute of Legal Education became operational in 2018.

The new lawyers are expected to increase the number of licensed lawyers to 662 from 632.

In recent years, the Malawi Law Society (MLS) has been urging lawyers in the country to be ethical in discharging their duties in a bid not to dent the image of the profession.

Among others, MLS has been training the lawyers on ethical, integrity and professional issues.