DOHA: Working in a law firm in Qatar for three years may not be sufficient anymore for a non-Qatari lawyer to appear in court on behalf of a client.
There are indications that rules are being changed and more conditions may be imposed on non-Qatari lawyer-employees of law firms to practice their profession.
The Lawyers’ Admission Committee at the Ministry of Justice met yesterday and approved regulations applicable to lawyers, both Qataris and non-Qataris.
These regulations are part of Article 9 of the law that regulates the legal profession in the country.
It says that after working for three years in a law firm a lawyer can be “promoted” so that he can appear in court on behalf of a client.
The Admission Committee did not find fault with the above provision, but imposed the additional condition that a non-Qatari must be registered as a lawyer in his or her home country.
Or, they must be or must have been a member of the Bar Association in their home country to be permitted to represent a client in court in Qatar after three years of working with a law firm here.
Prominent lawyer Yusuf Al Zaman told this newspaper yesterday that yet another condition being imposed on non-Qatari lawyers is that they must have enough experience.
And finally, to be allowed to appear in a Qatari court, the foreign lawyer must appear for an interview with a committee being set up for this purpose by the Minister of Justice.
The Admission Committee, meanwhile, admitted some new lawyers to the legal profession. Its meeting was presided over by its ex-officio chairman, the Minister of Justice, H E Dr Hassan Lahdan Saqr Al Mohannadi, QNA reported.
Asked about the tussle between the Lawyers’ Association and the private sector over allowing companies to have their legally qualified employees represent them in court in legal matters, Al Zaman said the committee was still studying the proposed amendments.
The Minister of Justice has set up a six-member committee to study amendments to a draft law (to regulate the legal profession) that seeks to permit companies to have their legally qualified employees represent them in court.
Three of the members are from the ministry while the other three are from the Lawyers’ Association, Al Zaman said.
Until 2006, companies enjoyed that privilege, the lawyer said. However, a new law enforced that year ended that privilege.
A recent draft law seeks to give that privilege back to private companies. The Lawyers’ Association has objected and asked the justice ministry to cancel the relevant amendments.
The Association, thus, proposed some amendments and the ministry has set up a committee to study them.
THE PENINSULA
