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RESEARCH PROJECT TOPIC ON EXAMINATION OF THE FUNCTIONS OF PARALEGALS UNDER THE NIGERIAN LEGAL SYSTEM
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CHAPTER ONE
1.0 GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Law has over time helped in reconstructing societies and determining the framework within which a society and its people must work to ensure harmony, peace and reduction in conflict of interest. Roscoe Pound opines that to reduce the conflict of interest the society must adopt the force of social engineering. Law is social engineering, which means a balance between the competing interests in society.[1] Recently the postulation that law is an instrument of social change has come to fore with the Nigerian society becoming more engaged in the issues of justice and the need to access justice. Aderibigbe,O.I[2] states that in recent times the subject of law as an instrument of social change stands out in distinct lines as legal reforms in Nigeria and all over the world has been at the centre of agenda of government, admitting the fact that law, and its adequate enforcement, is imperative to the achievement of behavioral change and social justice in a country. The legal profession is therefore saddled with the burden of ensuring that behavioral change and social justice are met. This task of providing access to justice has relatively been unmet by members of the legal profession thus the emergence of another group of social workers within the legal profession called Paralegals. This work will not delve into the jurisprudence of the concept of law and social engineering but will focus on Paralegalism as an emerging trend in Nigeria, a new trend within our clime.
A novel concept that is not well known to members of the legal profession and the public in Nigeria. An euphemism that has received little or no recognition by the practitioners themselves particularly practitioners on the job-experience ,such groups of persons are the legal secretaries, court clerks, court registrars, law-librarians and so on who are non-lawyers Members of the legal profession have also not recognized this group of persons known as paralegals. This is so because previously the legal profession was highly conservative and as such does not easily welcome intrusion or changes that will affect the fundamentals of the legal industry. They had the nature that has long established monopoly in the legal market, thus resisting and resenting any innovation that is likely to tamper with or alter the age long approach to the practice of law. [3] This nature consequently, made lawyers capture and control the market place or legal services,[4] though recently this control has been restricted to the practice of law only. The changes witnessed are because of the continuous development and growth of the legal industry. Cannon, T.A[5] states that the last thirty (30) years have witnessed tremendous growth and change in the legal profession generally.
It is pertinent to state that the legal profession exists in a global world where the predominant reality on ground is that of change and therefore cannot continue with its nature of conservatism. Paralegalism is one of the changes evident within the legal industry. The legal practitioners in Nigeria must begin to embrace the global changes occurring in the practice of law. Lawyers must acquaint themselves with how this global trend affects the practice of law in Nigeria.
It is important to establish that, though the trend paralegalism seems to be new in Nigeria, it has long been entrenched in the legal system of developed countries and in developing countries such as Liberia, South Africa, Sierra Leone and Ghana.
It is of paramount importance to note that though they are recognized and well established in other climes, the status of the paralegal profession is still a flux[6] in Africa. This is so because there are no laws establishing the paralegal profession in some of those developing countries in Africa.
Members of these paraprofessionals provide legal services to consumers under the control and direction of legal practitioners. They cannot carry out legal activities without the supervision of an attorney. In most climes, the paralegals work strictly under the supervision of attorneys and cannot work on their own. Their role is strictly complimentary to that of the legal practitioner.
The term paralegal always raises questions in the minds of legal practitioners and as such, members of this profession have taken various positions as to the use of this term. They have asked several questions as to the relevance and the role of the paralegal to the legal profession. The paralegals‘ role if likened to the role of the paramedics within the medical profession will be better appreciated. Jordan[7] in her work states thus ―Just as paramedics possess specialized medical skills, but work under the direction of medical doctors, paralegals fill a similar role in the practice of law‖.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The development occurring within the Legal Profession and affected by global trends necessitates the study of the new trend called paralegals. This trend is to promote and ensure that justice is accessed in accordance with the provisions of the Law, which necessitates this Research. The fact that the legal profession is still unable to meet the needs of providing justice particularly to the indigent persons and the advent of a new set called paralegals necessitates this research.
The traditional form of legal practice obtained in Nigeria will largely determine the status and recognition of the paralegal profession. The Nigerian legal system has no option than to realign with current practices to take advantage of the current global trend/practices since no legal system can continuously exist and sustain itself without the international laws and practices infiltrating and determining its relevance. Therefore, the infiltration of these paraprofessionals called paralegals cannot be undermined. Even though the term is relatively new to the legal profession, they have existed and evolved from the following categories of legal service providers; like legal secretaries, court clerks/registrars, research assistant, police prosecutors, law librarians and others working in the legal department that are non-lawyers. They have also existed within the non-governmental segment in Nigeria. These groups of persons have over the years worked on a wide variety of legal specialties such as law firms, companies, real estate, non-governmental organizations, judiciary, and so on. These groups of persons work under the legal practitioner‘s supervision, and thus can do several work assigned to them such as legal research, drafting, negotiating contracts, mediation in rural communities‘ and so on.[8] However, there are areas strictly reserved for legal practitioners such as litigation, interviewing clients, giving legal advice, establishing client-attorney relations, setting legal fees and so on.
In spite of all these functions, the paralegal profession is still faced with several challenges.
These include but not limited to the following issues:
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Who is a paralegal within the Nigerian Legal Profession?
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Are paralegals an identifiable and a relevant group of legal workers within the
Nigerian legal system? Are they recognized and accepted by legal practitioners?
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What is their role within the legal system?
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Do they provide legal services or carry out strictly administrative task alone?
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What is the scope and nature of their work if they provide legal services?
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Do they provide legal services under the supervision of legal practitioners or on their own?
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Are they an important component of the legal system?
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Do they have legal basis for their role or is there any statutory provision establishing them?
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What are the reasons for non-recognition and acceptance of paralegals by legal practitioners?
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Are they alternative legal service providers?
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Do they aid access to justice delivery?
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Is their role a complementary one to the legal practitioner or can their role be likened to that of the paramedics within the medical profession?