High Court judge Herman Oosthuizen is delivering his judgement on an application by the Law Society of Namibia for a search and seizure warrant that would give it access to the financial records of law firm Sisa Namandje & Co.
The Law Society wants to check into Sisa Namandje & Co’s records as part of an investigation of the flow of money allegedly linked to the Fishrot corruption scandal through the firm’s trust account.
Sisa Namandje & Co has refused to give the Law Society access to its records, which it argues are confidential in terms of the principle of attorney and client privilege.
Judge Oosthuizen is considering the rules of the Law Society and the requirements for its council to take valid decisions authorising the institution of legal proceedings. This is a crucial first hurdle that the lawyers’ body will have to pass.
The Law Society has not provided the full council resolutions authorising the launch of its lawsuit against Sisa Namandje & Co, the judge notes. The council has also not indicated it had a reasonable belief the firm was guilty of misconduct that had to be investigated.
Sisa Namandje & Co lawfully decided not to allow the Law Society’s director to access its records and investigate its trust account, the judge says. Only the Law Society’s council, and not the director, can do such an investigation.
The Law Society’s council did not take a valid decision to authorise the court application to get access to Sisa Namandje & Co’s records, the judge says. The Law Society’s application is dismissed with costs.
Namandje and partners have successfully staved off the Law Society’s attempt to investigate the alleged use of its trust account to channel some N$22 million linked to the Fishrot corruption scandal to beneficiaries.
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