Yaounde: Over 300 lawyers hone skills in drafting Memorandum of Submission of Appeal.

This was during a one-day seminar organised by the Ngoulla Fotso and Associate law firm in Yaounde on Saturday, August 31. The workshop featured a series of detailed sessions led by esteemed legal minds from the Supreme Court.

Participants engaged in hands-on training, as they were able to get inside knowledge on crafting effective legal arguments and structuring persuasive submissions that adhere to the rigorous standards of the Supreme Court.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Barrister Ngoulla Fotso Arlette of the Ngoulla Fotso and Associate law firm, noted that the training was prompted by the recurrent rejection of Memorandum of Submission of Appeal drafted by law practitioners and submitted.

The legal mind said with the recurrent rejections of the submissions as well as their appeals, she thought it was better to organise an intensive workshop focused on drafting Memorandum of Submission of Appeal to the Supreme Court, with a member of the institution giving them the necessary skills required.

“I am not a new in the domain. I have been in this profession for 41 years and I will say I master the problem of many lawyers. I noticed there is this bridge between the Supreme Court and the lawyers and most at times these lawyers are unable to go to the Supreme Court to say what they think and seek advice,” Ngoulla Fotso said.

Harping on the importance of the educational initiatives put in place by her firm, Ngoulla Fotso the seminar “represents a significant step in strengthening the quality of legal practice in Cameroon”.

“By equipping lawyers with the tools to produce robust appeal submissions, we are fostering greater access to justice and ensuring that our legal system operates with the utmost integrity,” Barrister Ngoulla Fotso stated.

Participants salute initiative

The legal minds who attended the seminar expressed gratitude to the Ngoulla Fotso and Associate law firm for deepening their understanding and refine their skills in appellate law.

One of them, Barrister Elvis Kumfa, said the seminar was very timely, given that the Supreme Court has for the past few weeks and months been dismissing so many submissions based on the improper writing and crafting of the submission.

With 15 years of experience in the legal profession, Barrister Kumfa said the seminar permitted him to tap best practices panel of seasoned judges of the Supreme Court. 

“…whatever they told us was based on their experience as judges,” Kumfa stated. 

The legal mind said knowledge gotten from the seminar will help them better write admissible Memorandum of Submission of Appeal to the Supreme Court especially as the “first step of every submission is admissibility”.

“When you cross the stage of admissibility like a lawyer, you should be proud of your job and if the merit fails you, that should be because you had a bad case,” he stated.

Barrister Kumfa said he was particularly touched when one of the panel members pointed out the frequent mistakes many lawyers of Anglo-Saxon background make, especially “citing the law wrongly, quoting a section wrongly, referring to Article when you want to say Section”.

Barrister Teffo Valeri Tchinda on his part, noted that trainings of this magnitude will further boost their profession as lawyers and help them better defend their clients.

The come together also provided a platform for networking and exchange among legal professionals as it brought together the young and old. They used the forum to further share experience and enrich themselves. 

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3217 of Monday September 02, 2024