No legal basis for CJN’s ban on ‘Barrister’ title — Law society

The Nigerian Law Society has rejected the directive of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, directing lawyers to stop using “Barrister” as a title and adopt “Esquire” instead.

 

The society argued that the directive has no clear legal basis under existing legislation.

 

The CJN had directed lawyers and court officials to discontinue the use of “Barrister” before their names in official engagements at the Supreme Court.

 

The directive was contained in a July 13, 2026 memo signed by the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Kabir Akanbi, and addressed to legal practitioners, court registrars and other lawyers.

 

The memo said the measure was intended to promote professional standards at the apex court.

 

However, the NLS, through its Executive Director, Dr Tonye Jaja, in a statement issued on Wednesday, said the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962 recognised “Barrister” and “Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria” as titles applicable to lawyers called to the Nigerian Bar.

 

Jaja acknowledged that using “Barrister” alone did not capture the full professional title but argued that “Esquire” was also not expressly provided for in the relevant legislation.

 

He said, “Using ‘Barrister’ as a title is a half-truth that leaves out the title of ‘Solicitor’. As an alternative title, the title of ‘Esquire’ or its abbreviated version ‘Esq.’ was to be used as the appropriate suffix by Nigerian lawyers in their official correspondences to the Supreme Court of Nigeria.”

 

The NLS executive director argued that the CJN’s directive could not be traced to any provision of the Legal Practitioners Act.

 

“The problem with this recommended title of ‘Esquire’, or even other alternatives ‘Barrister-At-Law’ or ‘Attorney-At-Law’ is that they do not appear inside the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962,” he said.

 

Jaja maintained that neither the CJN, the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee nor the Nigerian Bar Association could impose requirements on lawyers that were not expressly provided for by law.

 

The NLS also criticised what it described as inconsistency in the treatment of the controversial “Blue Silks” rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria, SCN.

 

The society faulted arguments by the LPPC and Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja suggesting that the SCN title should not be recognised because it was not expressly provided for in the Legal Practitioners Act.

 

According to Jaja, the fact that the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, rank is expressly mentioned in law does not automatically make other professional titles illegitimate.

 

He accused the CJN and LPPC of applying different standards in regulating professional titles.

 

Jaja said, “The Blue Silks rank of Senior Counsel of Nigeria, SCN, is not stated inside the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962. This is the more reason why neither the NBA nor the LPPC has any powers of regulation over the Blue Silks rank as per the judgment of Hon. Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court Abuja.

 

“It is an act of contradiction and hypocrisy for both the CJN and the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to impose a ban upon a title ‘Barrister’ that is explicitly listed inside the Legal Practitioners Act, 1962 and replace it with alternatives that are not explicitly stated inside any statutes.”

 

He further described as discriminatory the use of some titles not expressly recognised by statute while others were restricted.

 

Jaja said the SAN title itself evolved from the British King’s Counsel tradition rather than being created directly by Nigerian legislation.

 

He said Nigeria adopted the SAN title in 1975 after inheriting the King’s Counsel tradition, which dates back to the 1500s in Britain, with Francis Bacon identified as its first holder.

 

The NLS executive director argued that the absence of a title from a statute did not, by itself, make its use unlawful.

 

He said the Senior Counsel of Nigeria title, conferred by the Nigerian Law Society and the Body of Senior Counsel of Nigeria, BOSCON, similarly derived its legitimacy from guidelines rather than direct statutory creation.

 

According to him, the guidelines were established pursuant to Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution and Section 19 of the National Assembly Service Commission Act, 2014.