Decree on appointment of notaries: SW lawyers petition Biya, say move part of assimilating Anglophones.

They said the decree is part of a scheme to assimilate Anglophones by undermining the Common Law system.

The delegation, comprising lawyers from different towns of the region, was led by the representative of the Bar Council President in Fako Division, Barrister Nkea Emmanuel. 

The lawyers' petition focuses on Section 116 of the decree which states that “lawyers are prohibited from practicing as notaries” and other offensive provisions of the decree. 

Such a provision, Barrister Nkea said, runs counter to what has obtained in Anglophone Cameroon even before independence. 

"We know that before independence and from independence, lawyers in Anglophone Cameroon have practiced both as advocates and notaries and we are insisting that it is part of our legal culture that we practice both as advocates and notaries," he said.

The decree, Barrister Nkea insisted, seeks to deprive lawyers in the two English-speaking regions of the opportunity to practice as advocates and notaries, but also affects their legal culture and legal identity as Anglophone lawyers. 

"The practice of advocates and notaries for Anglophone lawyers is part of our legal identity as lawyers in the Cameroon," Nkea stated.

Decree is part of assimilation of Anglophones

Barrister Nkea added that the presidential decree was a continuation of the process of assimilation of the Anglophone culture. 

"We think it is part of a process of assimilation, which we are trying to draw the attention of the authorities that under the constitution of this country, people in the English-speaking parts of the country have a special status," he added.

He said Anglophone regions have a special status, but a decree as such that tramples on the legal culture of the two regions violates such special status. 

"We came today to hand over the petition we have signed to the Governor for onward transmission to the Head of State to reemphasise that we believe that the guarantees of the special status under the constitution for Anglophone Cameroonians is not being respected in this case," he stated. 

In this light he appealed to the Head of State to reflect on the decree, while insisting that President Biya was surely misinformed on such a decree. 

"We believe that in his own quiet moments, the Head of State will be able to review the decree and take the appropriate decision, which, to us, will be the abrogation of Section 116 and other offensive provisions in that particular decree that affect the practice of the job of notaries by lawyers," Nkea averred.

Harmonisation not possible between the two legal systems 

Nkea pushed back on those who defend such a decree on the government's desire to harmonise the two legal systems, insisting that the two were not harmoniseable. 

"Harmonisation cannot be required to assimilation, because when you are assimilating, you are bringing two cultures. But in this case, we believe it is an assimilation process not a process of harmonisation because you cannot harmonise things that are not harmoniseable," he explained. 

Barrister Nkea expressed the hope that the Head of State was ill-advised and will take the necessary decision to abrogate such a decree. 

"I believe in the content of the petition and the wisdom of the Head of State, his sense of justice, equity and his sense to uphold the constitution of this country," he said.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3539 of Wednesday August 20, 2025