Section 8 of the Legal Practitioners Act: Right of Audience, and Precedence (Nigeria Lawyers)
Citation: Legal Practitioners Act 1975, Chapter L11 (Cap. L11), Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004
8. Right of Audience, and Precedence
(1) Subject to the provisions of the next following subsection and of any enactment in force in any part of Nigeria prohibiting or restricting the right of any person to be represented by a legal practitioner in proceedings before the Supreme Court or the Sharia Court of Appeal or any area or customary court, a legal practitioner shall have the right of audience in all courts of law sitting in Nigeria.
(2) No legal practitioner (other than such a person as is mentioned in subsection (3) of section 2 of this Act) shall be accorded the right of audience in any court in Nigeria in any year, unless he has paid to the Registrar in respect of that year, a practising fee as is from time to time prescribed by the Attorney‐General of the Federation after consultation with the association.
[1999 No. 31.]
(3) The Registrar shall —
(a) issue to every person by whom a practising fee is paid in respect of any year a receipt for the fee in the prescribed form; and
(b) as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of January in each year and thereafter from time to time during the year as he considers appropriate cause to be printed in the prescribed form and put on sale a list or supplementary list of the legal practitioners by whom practising fees have been paid in respect of that year; and
(c) pay over to the Association as soon as may be after the end of each year a sum equal to nine tenths of the aggregate amount of the practising fees received by him in pursuance of this section during the year, and a receipt purporting to be issued and list purporting to be printed in pursuance of this subsection in respect of any year shall be evidence that the person named in the receipt or, as the case may be, that any person named in the list has paid to the Registrar the practising fee in respect of that year.
(4) Legal practitioners appearing before any court, tribunal or a person exercising jurisdiction conferred by law to hear and determine any matter (including an arbitrator) shall take precedence among themselves according to the table of precedence set out in the First Schedule to this Act.
[First Schedule.]
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