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A retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Amina Adamu Augie, has decried indecent dressing among female lawyers.
Justice Augie, while speaking at an event organised by the Nigerian Bar Association Women Forum (NBAWF) FCT Abuja Chapter, with the theme: “Indecent Dressing: Its Effect on Female Lawyers Dress Code,” called on lawyers to see themselves as important parts of somebody else’s life.
She admonished that lawyers should dress in a way that inspires confidence because they are supposed to be presentable when representing their clients.
“When you come before me as a lawyer and you are not properly dressed, no one will tell you to dress well by the time you are appearing before me again because I’ll also talk to your principal, why he allowed you to leave the chambers without being properly dressed.
“As a lawyer, you need to know who you are because it is when you identify who you are that you will be able to instil confidence in others and your client.
“I don’t spare any lawyer that dresses indecently in my court. As lawyers, we should be disciplined, so that when you say you are a lawyer, you are able to instil confidence in others, so that when you speak, they’ll listen to you,” she said.
Former Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice in Sokoto State, Mr. Suleiman Usman, SAN, said that no indecently dressed lawyer should be given an audience in court.
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According to him, a lawyer that is indecently dressed in court is setting bad precedent for those coming behind.
“To be properly dressed as a lawyer is very important because it says a lot about who you are. It could lead to disciplinary action because bad conduct of any lawyer could rub off on others.
“For a lawyer to be respected and win the confidence and trust of his client, he must present himself in a decent manner,” he said.
Governing Council member of the Nigerian Bar Association Women Forum, Hajia Mohammed Adama, called on parents to be good examples to their daughters. According to her, as lawyers and mothers, the forum is expected to instil good values in the younger ones.
“We are lawyers and we impact positively in the society and the society looks up to us as well, so we must conduct ourselves in a manner that is acceptable, including our dressing.
“You will agree with me that with what you see on the internet daily, our societal value is eroding and we can’t allow that to creep into the legal profession.
“The legal profession is a noble one and we can’t allow indecent dressing to negatively impact the good name the profession has earned many years ago,” Adama said.
