Second Schedule Legal Practitioners Act

[Section 11.]

Supplementary provisions as to the Disciplinary Committee

The Disciplinary Committee

1. The quorum of the Disciplinary Committee shall be five.

2. (1) The Chief Justice of Nigeria shall make rules for the purposes of any proceedings and as to the procedure to be followed and the rules of evidence to be observed in proceedings before the Disciplinary Committee.

(2) The rules shall in particular provide-
(a) for securing that notice of the proceedings shall be given, at such time and in such manner as may be specified by the rules, to the person against whom the proceedings are brought;
(b) for determining who, in addition to the person aforesaid, shall be a party to the proceedings;

(c) for securing that any party to the proceedings shall, if he so requires, be entitled to be heard by the Disciplinary Committee;
(d) for enabling any party to the proceedings to be represented by a legal practitioner;

(e) subject to the provisions of subsection (7) of section 11 of this Act, as to the costs of proceedings before the Disciplinary Committee;
(f) for requiring, in a case where it is alleged that the person against whom the proceedings are brought is guilty of infamous conduct in any professional respect, that where the Disciplinary Committee adjudges that the allegation has not been proved it shall record a finding that the person is not guilty of such conduct in respect of the matters to which the allegation relates;

(g) for publishing in the Federal Gazette notice of any direction of the Disciplinary Committee which has taken effect providing that a person’s name shall be struck off the roll or that a person shall be suspended from practice.

3. Until such a time as the Body of Benchers is able to employ its own secretary, it shall be the duty of the Solicitor-General of the Federation to afford to the Disciplinary Committee such facilities, whether by way of accommodation, secretarial assistance or otherwise, as the Disciplinary Committee may reasonably require for the purpose of its functions.

Miscellaneous

4. (1) Subject to the provisions of section 10 of this Act a person appointed by the Benchers to be a member of the Disciplinary Committee shall, unless he previously resigns, hold office for such term, not exceeding three years, as may be specified in his instrument of appointment.
(2) A person ceasing to be a member of the Disciplinary Committee shall be eligible for reappointment as a member of that body.

5. The Disciplinary Committee or the Appeal Committee may act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership and no proceedings of the Disciplinary Committee or the Appeal Committee shall be invalidated by any irregularity in the appointment of a member thereof or by reason of the fact that any person who was not entitled to do so took part in the proceedings.

6. The Disciplinary Committee may sit in two or more divisions.

7. Any document authorised or required by this Act to be served on the Disciplinary Committee shall be served on the Solicitor-General of the Federation.