The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja has ruled that lawyers serving in the Nigeria Police Force but not appointed as legal officers can only prosecute criminal cases and are barred from performing any other legal practitioners’ functions for their employer.
The judge, Olufunke Anuwe, declared in her judgement delivered on Friday “that police officers who are lawyers but not appointed or upgraded as legal officers in the Nigeria Police Force are in breach of the provisions of Rule 8(1) and (2) of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2023, by their actions of functioning and performing the duties of legal officers, other than the duties of prosecution of criminal cases, for their employer.”
The judge also ordered the police force, the Police Service Commission (PSC) and the Inspector-General of the Federation to deploy “police officers who are legal practitioners to every Police Division in Nigeria to assist with the enforcement of human rights in policing at the Divisions.”
She noted that all serving police officers who are lawyers but have yet to be upgraded to be legal officers of the force should stop posing as and performing the functions of legal officers other than prosecuting criminal cases.
