By Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Mimi Mefo Info
Published on 2024-02-05 12:49:04
Called to present a letter of sponsorship when submitting their application, candidates from the regions of the Far North, North and Adamaoua find themselves in almost impossibility to present it, due to the very limited number of law firms in this part of the country.
The alarm bell was just sounded by Christian Ntimbane Bomo, a lawyer at the Paris bar who has been campaigning for weeks for the abolition of the high application fees for the lawyers’ internship qualification examination.
In a statement released this morning, Master Christian Ntimbane Bomo explains: “Following my statement calling on young Cameroonians applying for the lawyers’ internship qualification examination to a meeting, today at 11 am and which will be held by ZOOM, hundreds of young applicants for this examination living in the northern regions (Adamaoua, North, Far North) who have contacted me, are unable to obtain sponsorship letters due to the scarcity of law firms established in their regions and also able to issue them with sponsorship letters,” he writes.
According to him, the few existing law firms are mainly made up of young lawyers who have recently graduated and have less than 5 years of seniority. This does not allow them to issue sponsorship letters, as indicated by the criteria set for this competition.
The three northern regions have less than 50 law firms installed. However, according to the requirements, each law firm must produce 3 sponsorship letters, which means that 150 sponsorship letters could be issued in this part of the country.
“However, explains the lawyer, “these northern regions have produced thousands of jurists in the past 10 years, since the date of the last competition, graduates from the universities of Ngaoundere, its annex of Garoua, recently became the University of Garoua, and Maroua. Thus, thousands of young jurists living in these regions, and having studied law there, unfortunately will not be able to apply if this measure limiting sponsorship letters for the entrance examination to the internship, which is also illegal, as it is not provided for by any text, is maintained 2 days before the deadline for submission of applications, i.e. February 7, 2024”.
Another problem is that applicants living in these regions are required to come and submit their applications at the headquarters of the Bar Council in Yaoundé. This further complicates the task, as applicants have to pay for transportation and accommodation in Yaoundé.
Ntimbane Bomo believes that “this situation of limiting the issuance of sponsorship letters constitutes a threat to national integration, national unity, and equality among citizens. It marginalizes and excludes the children of the northern regions from this lawyers’ internship qualification examination.”
He also calls on the Minister of State, Minister of Justice, to “remind the Bar Council that its Decree of December 18, 2024 does not limit the number of sponsorship letters to be issued by a lawyer. The only condition regarding a lawyer’s ability to issue a sponsorship letter is that he has at least 5 years of registration with the bar.”
As a reminder, sponsorship letters for the internship qualification examination are letters of recommendation from a candidate for the examination. After admission, the applicant presents another sponsorship letter to a lawyer for training in a law firm. This second sponsorship letter is provided for by Article 9 of the law of December 19, 1990 on the organization of the legal profession.
Read the original article(French) on Mimi Mefo Info
