Cameroon Lawyers announce partial strike from December 7 to 11

The Cameroon Bar Council has “…instituted the boycott of court sessions dealing exclusively with felonies and electoral matters from the 7th to the 11th of December 2020 inclusive “.

This is one of the decisions taken in the course of a Bar Council session Wednesday, December 2nd, 2020, in Yaounde.

The decision is a follow up of a general strike observed by lawyers from November 30th to December 4th 2020.

In a final release signed by the Secretary-General of the Bar Council, no specific reason has been stated while lawyers in Cameroon should not defend cases in court on felonies and electoral matters from the 7th to 11th December 2020.

As concerns violations of a previous decision by the Bar Council for all lawyers to stay off the courts from November 30th to December 4th, the Bar Council calls on the Cameroon Bar Working Group “…to ameliorate judicial system and has opened disciplinary proceedings against lawyers who infringed on laid down bar council resolutions either by openly violating them or by challenging in an appropriate manner”.

The Bar Council noted with disappointment that the Bonanjo court of first instance has not prosecuted the forces of law and order who brutalised and fired tear gas on lawyers in the court room on the 10th of November 2020.

In a related view, Bar council noted that the court handed down suspended sentences to four lawyers and their release from custody.

Bar Council mandated the interim bar council president to work closely with the family of Batonier Tchakonte Patie Charles for a befitting burial of the Batonier.

Despite strike by the lawyers, the ministry of justice has not issued a statement on how to address several grievances outlined by lawyers.

Mbatho Ntan.