Lawyers say wig, gown equivalent of legal practice licence

Lagos: Some Lagos-based lawyers on Monday described the wig and gown as the equivalent of a practising licence issued after enrolment.

They said only persons called to the Bar and enrolled as Solicitors of the Supreme Court of Nigeria were qualified to wear the regalia.

The lawyers spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in reaction to a recent warning by the Council of Legal Education.

The council warned law graduates yet to be called to the Bar against wearing the wig and gown or presenting themselves as lawyers.

A Lagos-based lawyer and former police prosecutor, Mr Dania Abdullahi, told NAN that a lawyer’s regalia could only be worn after enrolment.

He said that although wearing the attire before being called to the Bar was improper, it did not constitute a criminal offence.

According to him, it only becomes an offence when a person wears the regalia to appear in court before enrolment.

“To wear your wig as a Nigerian Law School graduate before you are formally called to the Bar is not a criminal offence.

“It is improper, but it is not unprofessional because even non-lawyers wear wigs while acting in comedy productions.

“If such a person, after being called to the Bar, commits professional misconduct, they can be disciplined, but not before then,” he said.

Similarly, a member of the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA), Mrs Adaobi Fortune, described the practice as wrong and blamed it on impatience among law graduates.

“It is very wrong and unethical to put on your wig and gown without being called to the Bar.

“The wig and gown are strictly reserved for qualified lawyers who have been formally called to the Bar.

“Putting on the legal attire beforehand portrays impatience on the part of the prospective lawyer and violates professional ethics and the law,” she said.

Also speaking, rights activist Mr Anthony Makolo told NAN that wearing legal regalia before the call to the Bar contravened Section 22 of the Legal Practitioners Act.

He said wearing the attire and holding oneself out as a lawyer without formal enrolment could amount to impersonation.

“A prospective lawyer may be driven by excitement and motivated to wear a lawyer’s attire, not realising such conduct may amount to a breach of Rule 45 of the Rules of Professional Conduct,” he said.

Makolo urged law graduates to refrain from the practice.

He warned that offenders risked disciplinary measures that could jeopardise their chances of being called to the Bar.