It Is Defamatory To Refer To A Lawyer As ‘Charge And Bail’

Inibehe Effiong

Nigerian human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has warned that a person can be sued for defamation if he or she refers to a legal practitioner as a “charge and bail lawyer’.

According to him, such can happen if the legal practitioner finds it offensive and decides to take it up in court.

Inibehe stated that a lawyer who has never been referred to as a “charge and bail lawyer” is probably not doing serious legal work or has no opinion on topical or controversial issues in the country.

 In a post shared on X, Inibehe wrote;

“A lawyer who has never been referred to as a “charge and bail lawyer” is probably not doing serious legal work or has no opinion on topical or controversial issues in the country.

Those who do not know your career attainments or anything about your work as a lawyer, will easily call you “a charge and bail lawyer”.

Even those who cannot afford your fees or the fees of any lawyer for that matter will still call you a “charge and bail lawyer”.

Meanwhile, the court has ruled that it is defamatory to refer to a lawyer as “charge and bail”. It is important to bear this in mind because you may be sued one day by a lawyer that finds it offensive.”