NIGERIAN LEGAL RESEARCH AND PRACTICE SUPPORT INITIATIVE (NLRSI)
Website: https://nigerianlawyersdirectory.com/nigerian-legal-research-and-practice-support-initiative
GENERAL INFORMATION AND RULES OF THE WHATSAPP AND TELEGRAM GROUPS
OBJECTIVE OF THE GROUP
1. The objective of the Nigerian Legal Research and Practice Support Initiative (NLRSI) is to function as a collaborative modern legal research and practice platform for licensed Nigerian lawyers (i.e. lawyers in private legal practice, lawyers in government and corporate employment, and legal academics or law lecturers) who are passionate about legal research and practice and to promote a Citizen Legal Education Programme (CLEP) for all Nigerians.
MEMBERSHIP OF THE GROUP
Professional Membership
2. Membership of the Group is strictly and exclusively for Nigerian lawyers who have been called to the Nigerian Bar (i.e. lawyers in private legal practice, lawyers in government and corporate employment, and legal academics or law lecturers).
NLRSI reserves the absolute discretion to permit any non-lawyer to be a member of the Group, where doing so is in the best interest of the Group.
Student Membership
3. Law students with evidence of authorship of law articles or law books may be accepted as members of this Group, if the Administrators of the Group consider their involvement in legal research to be significant and in the interest of the Group.
Interest in Legal Research and Practice
4. Every member of the Group should be genuinely involved or interested in modern legal research for legal scholarship or professional legal practice.
BENEFITS OF THE MEMBERS
5. Development of modern legal research and practice skills through group discussions, online seminars, and other viable means.
6. Collaboration on legal research projects and scholarly publications.
7. Participation in the activities of the organisation’s Nigerian Legal Research Journal (NLRJ).
8. Moral, advisory, participatory, and technical support (no financial obligations whatsoever) for fellow members’ legal research endeavours.
Activities and Discussion
9. This Group is for Nigerian legal research and practice discussions and activities only, to help members enjoy the above-mentioned benefits of members.
10. No post nor discussion on any topic or issue whatsoever that is not directly related to legal research, legal practice, legal education, administration of justice, and the legal profession.
Politics
11. No post nor discussion on politics whatsoever. This includes no mention of the name of any politician in a political context outside legal research, legal practice, legal education, administration of justice, and the legal profession.
Religion
12. No post nor discussion on religion whatsoever. This includes no posting of devotionals and no posts from religious groups. Religious matters should be discussed in their proper groups, and there many of them everywhere.
Jokes
13. No posting of jokes. We all enjoy humour, which has health benefits. But there are countless other fora and platforms where we can enjoy humour, even non-stop.
News
14. No post on news items, except news items directly relevant to legal research, e.g. posts on the enactment of new laws, amendment or repeal of existing laws, court decisions and judgments, relevant developments in the legal profession and legal practice, and developments in international law.
Harassment, Rudeness, and Hostile Language
15. No harassment of any member in any form whatsoever.
16. No abusive or rude language or reaction.
Tolerance and Politeness
17. Maintain the virtue of tolerance of every member’s opinions or suggestions (no matter how ridiculous you think they are), to avoid conflict and bad feelings. Express your contrary opinion or view politely in a friendly and dignified manner.
Posting Hours
18. No posting of anything in the Group between the hours of 10:00 PM (at night) and 7:00 AM (in the morning). This rule aims to avoid the possibility of alerts or notifications of posts disturbing members during unsocial hours when people are expected to be resting or sleeping. It is a noble virtue to be considerate and thoughtful.
Participation
19. Members should participate actively in the Group’s discussions and tasks, to reap and maximise the benefits of membership.
Privacy and Solicitations
20. Respect the privacy of every member. Avoid solicitations and unwarranted private messages or calls that may be tantamount to harassment.
Impersonation
21. Avoid impersonation of the status of a lawyer. As stated in Paragraph 2 above, this Group is strictly and exclusively for licensed Nigerian lawyers. Therefore, if you are not a qualified Nigerian lawyer, please, honourably leave (or exit) the Group. To do so, use the EXIT button (available under the Group Settings) to remove yourself from the Group. If you are unable to do so by yourself, please, ask any of the Group Administrators to help you do so. We are sorry to see you leave, but it is in conformance to the Group’s policy on membership. As stated in Paragraph 2 above, NLRSI reserves the absolute discretion to permit any non-lawyer to be a member of the Group, where doing so is in the best interest of the Group.
Adverts of Members’ Products and Services
22. All members of this Group have the privilege to advertise and promote their own law-related products and services through posts in the Group.
Adverts of Law-Related Conferences, Seminars, Workshops, and Calls for Papers
23. As a legal research and practice Group, adverts of law-related conferences, seminars, workshops, and calls for papers for publication in academic journals and books are allowed and proactively encouraged.
Prohibition of Adverts of Products and Services of Third Parties
24. Adverts of the products and services of third parties (i.e. non-members of the Group) are prohibited in this Group.
General Conduct
25. Avoid any act that violates any of the generally accepted rules of responsible conduct, including any act that is incompatible with the respected status of a legal practitioner and the learned legal profession.
DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE AND SANCTIONS
26. A warning (Yellow Card) is given to any member who violates any of the Group’s Rules or any of the generally accepted rules of responsible conduct.
27. A Red Card may be given to any member who had earlier received a Yellow Card (warning), and the member is thereby removed from the Group, if the Administrators of the Group consider that member’s removal from the group to be the appropriate sanction that is in the best interest of the Group.
28. The Group Administrators reserve the absolute right and discretion to remove any member (who has violated any of the Group’s Rules or any of the generally accepted rules of responsible conduct) from the Group without a prior warning, where they consider it appropriate to do so.
Introduction of New Members
29. The NLRSI Group is for lawyers only. Members of the Group are encouraged to introduce the Group to lawyers and give the phone number of any prospective member to the Group Administrators who would then add the person to the Group.
NLRSI’S SOCIAL MEDIA GROUPS AND AFFILIATED WEBSITES
30. The Nigerian Legal Research and Practice Support WhatsApp Group (the Group’s link is available on request by Nigerian Lawyers)
31. The Nigerian Legal Research and Practice Support Telegram Group (the Group’s link is available on request by Nigerian Lawyers)
32. The Human Right of Free Access to Law Discussion Group on Facebook (the Group has more than 40,000 (forty thousand) members from all over the world and it is growing rapidly EVERY DAY): https://www.facebook.com/groups/PublicLegalInformation
33. The Nigerian Lawyers Directory Website provides free premium listing (comprehensive business information) of Nigerian lawyers (individual lawyers), law firms, and legal academics (law lecturers), and free access to various categories of Nigerian legal information: https://nigerianlawyersdirectory.com
34. The Human Right of Free Access to Public legal Information Advocacy Website provides free access to law (public legal information, including international and regional conventions or treaties on human rights and other areas of law), free law books and articles, free information and communications technology (ICT) books and articles (free computer and Internet literacy training), and other books: https://publiclegalinformation.com
ORIGIN OF NLRSI
35. Dr. Leesi Ebenezer Mitee formed the Nigerian Legal Research and Legal Education Support Initiative (NLRSI), the original name of the Nigerian Legal Research and Practice Support Initiative (NLRSI), on 20 December 2018 and created her WhatsApp Group on that same date.
Dated the 22nd Day of December 2018.
Latest Revision: 8 March 2021
Dr. Leesi Ebenezer Mitee
Coordinator, Nigerian Legal Research and Practice Support Initiative
PhD in International Human Rights Law, Legal Information Technology (Legal Informatics), Indigenous Customary Law and Indigenous Rights
Nigerian Lawyers Directory supports the global advocacy of the universal recognition of the right of free access to public legal information as a stand-alone or substantive human right, whose global pioneer advocate is Dr. Leesi Ebenezer Mitee.