Addressing the Deficiencies in Lawyer Training: The Need for Reform

If we want better results, we can’t keep doing the same thing. Lawyer training should not be subject to political and patronage debates, as we are called to be examples of academic, moral and ethical solvency, given our social function, which cannot be dissociated from deontology or the history of unions. In our country, very few, lawyers and laymen, know the origin of the profession, of the schools, of the professional examination, of the oath, of professional secrecy, of the protection of the inviolability of the person or of the lawyer’s office.

In an article entitled “The training of lawyers in the 18th and 18th centuries”, an author (JL Gazzaniga) insisted on the importance of intellectual training for lawyers: “ignorance is very dangerous for all people, but especially for those who make a profession of justice, be they judges or lawyers”. Another author (Bonaventure de Fourcroy) added, with regard to lawyers, whoever wants to be a good lawyer must be equipped with multiple tools, in addition to the science of Law, he must have perfectly studied grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, science of morality, politicians, poets and historians, especially history, which he called the door to all sciences; but above all he must know in depth the Roman Law, which is the mother of all laws.

In our country, Law 350 of 2022 repealed Law 9 of 1984, being without consultation, it was never debated in the General Assembly of the National Bar Association. This text is deficient and incomplete: The requirements for the practice of law do not require tuition; all reference to the CNA was eliminated, reducing it to the degree of Common Law Association; Bar Associations are not regulated; There is no condition of morality to be admitted as a lawyer.

Since the 1994 ruling, lawyers are not required to be part of the CNA and since Law 350, they are not required to be part of any Bar Association, but the CNA Court of Honor is empowered to investigate all lawyers, whether they are members or not.

Law 350 also does not contemplate a clear definition of professional secrecy or the separation between client and lawyer; there are no ex officio powers of the TDH to investigate offenses nor is the Disciplinary Jurisdiction adequately developed; there is no Protection Regime for the Professional Practice of Lawyers in the role of Resident Agent or the Lawyer in the role of Collaborator of Justice or in the public sector; the professional liability regime is not established; neither the collective exercise of the profession nor professional societies are regulated. In short, the current Law is a deficient text that deserves a profound reform.

To exercise, the Certificate of Suitability is required, which is an authorization sanctioned by the State for the exercise of an activity. This authorization grants a right of exercise to those who meet the requirements, being revocable for reasons established in the Law. Therefore, being a Law graduate is not equivalent to being a lawyer.

Law 350 of 2022 introduced the Professional Examination in Panama as a requirement to obtain Suitability. The CSJ is in charge of issuing the Suitability and organizing the Examination. The CNA has no control over the training of lawyers or admission to professional practice and shares the disciplinary role with the CSJ. This system is “sui generis” and contradictory.

To comply with the assignment of Law 350, the CSJ has issued Agreement 684, by which it establishes the Training Program and the Exam Content. Regarding this, in a letter delivered to the CSJ, on April 23, 2023, we point out a series of deficiencies of the Program, particularly due to the exclusion of the History of the Legal Profession and of the Bar Associations, of Deontology and of Methodology. Legal.

Much surprise has been caused by the result of the exam where only nine of 150 Law graduates, graduates of official and private universities, passed the Exam. When trying to explain the unfortunate result, there will be those who will focus on the proliferation of private universities, over which there is no control, supervision or effective supervision, where there is competition to graduate in the shortest time possible and not with the best education and where there are no professors or researchers.

Others will focus on the construction of the applied test or on the examiner; or in the attitude, effort and preparation of the examinees; in study programs; in the little or great rigor of the Institution; or in the conformation and compliance of the teaching staff of the Program. Others will attack the very existence of the Examination, in a conservative, populist and patronage position that does not contribute to raising the level or preparation of lawyers.

This is how a Bill, without consultation, tries to modify the design of the exam, limiting it to “ethical” knowledge related to professional practice, assigning the responsibility of the Exam to the University of Panama. In other words, reducing the content of the exam to a minimum. Does this solve the problem? The answer is no.

The problem is complex and requires not only improvements to the curriculum, reviewing the methods, a better selection of teachers, a better selection of the student body, the reestablishment of the Degree Thesis as the only method to graduate and the development of a comprehensive, scientific Professional Examination. and adequate, correct deficiencies and be more rigorous and strict. A lawyer is not just any professional.

The Preparation and application of the Exam can be assigned to the University of Panama, but it must take into account the participation of lawyers and the CSJ, since we are all part of the system and must participate in solving the problem.

Practicing lawyer, Master in Civil Law and Business Law from the University of Paris II.