BUJUMBURA Sep 19th (ABP) – The assistant to the Minister of Justice, Mrs. Gaudence Nasasagare calls on lawyers to reconnect with the values of their profession and to improve in the practice of the profession, by training and informing themselves, which is a value that every lawyer should favor. It was on the occasion of the back-to-school ceremonies 2022-2023, organized jointly with the Bujumbura Bar and the Gitega Bar on Friday September 16, 2022 in Bujumbura under the theme: “The lawyer, key actor for the promotion justice for all, source of peace and development”.
In her speech, Mrs. Nasasagare said that the celebration of that day is an opportunity to assess the implementation of the resolutions taken last year, to highlight the achievements and to identify the shortcomings in order to move forward.
The theme chosen for this year was, according to her, well thought out because it is time for the two bars to take their responsibility in improving the functioning of justice in Burundi.
She added that this theme will enable Burundian justice actors to understand the current challenges and issues around the legal profession in order to take measures that will consolidate the government’s vision in this sector.
The assistant to the Minister of Justice did not forget to mention that the various discussions around the sub-themes will allow lawyers to learn and update their knowledge, explaining that the legal profession is not only scholarly knowledge, that is to say knowing the laws necessary to defend the interests of their clients, and that it is also knowing how to be, knowing how to say, scrupulously respecting the ethical rules of the profession.
She ended her remarks by asking lawyers to respect their professional oath, the law, and to display irreproachable behavior in both their private and professional lives.
According to the President of the Bar of Bujumbura, Me Jean de Dieu Muhuzenge, he indicated that the organization of the new judicial year contributes to the solidarity of the two bars, to the consolidation of the rule of law and to the promotion of justice, which is the source of peace and development.
According to him, the theme chosen will allow all actors of justice to reflect and come up with recommendations that will be implemented to contribute to improving the functioning of the judicial system.
Deploring the recent dismissal of around thirty magistrates by the Superior Council of the Judiciary, he also took this opportunity to advise lawyers to cut short any bad behavior including corruption and injustice, saying that “A corrupting lawyer as well as a corrupt judge are both like a gravedigger who prepares the graves of others while already beginning, slowly but surely, the preparations for his own burial”, as a former president of a French bar used to say.
Me Muhuzenge did not fail to point out that despite many actions taken by the government of Burundi with the aim of relieving congestion in prisons and detention houses, some people are still languishing there even though they have obtained provisional release, Others have been acquitted by various courts and tribunals, which is contrary to national and international texts ratified by Burundi.
According to him, those people have the right to their freedom, but continue to consume, which constitutes a heavy burden for the coffers of the State when they have the strength to participate in development activities. It asks the government to strengthen the monitoring and control of the implementation of certain decisions.