Lawyers can be politicians but can politicians be lawyers? Mixing the two professions - one governed by a code of ethics and the other perceived to be thoroughly ethic-less - makes an unhealthy marriage.

The mandate of the president of the Bar Council is up for renewal amidst controversy regarding an alleged political bias of the association towards government policies. Criticisms were first made by Anil Gayan, himself a lawyer and a politician, and a contender for the office of president of the Mauritius Bar Association. He accused current president Robin Ramburn of going along with government proposals, of not taking controversial stands in a bid not to embarrass government and of standing up for attorney general, Rama Valayden, himself an ex-officio member of the Bar Council.

Those accusations were made in the context of the controversies regarding the establishment of the Appleby group in the country, a result of the liberalisation of the practice as announced in the 2006 budget. The company is allegedly operating illegally since the law regulating the establishment of foreign lawyers in Mauritius hasn’t been updated yet. The Bar Council has officially remained silent on the matter.

Bar Council President Robin Ramburn rejects the accusation levelled against him. He tells l’express that he is aware of the criticisms against his presidency but maintains that the Bar Council is “politically independent” and expresses fear that the Association will be used in the future “as a political platform for some lawyers to sort the attorney general out”. Such rifts are not surprising.

After all many lawyers are politicians and many Bar Council presidents have been politicians; Ivan Collendavelloo, former president of the Bar Council is a member of the MMM, Sanjay Buckory, also former Bar Council president - and now chairman of Air Mauritius - is close to the Labour party and current President Ramburn is a known supporter of the Labour party as another lawyer - himself an MSM candidate beaten at the last general elections - points out. Is it any wonder, then that rivalry and sentiments of hostility sparkle once in a while?

One of the prospective candidates for Bar Council elections is Anil Gayan, a politician and political adversary of attorney general, Rama Valayden.

It seems, however, that, besides the Appleby issue, there isn’t much substance in the accusations levelled against President Ramburn’s presidency. Ramburn did take a stand against government’s decision to make the director of the anti-corruption commission (Icac) immune from prosecution, he did say publicly that the Bar Council did not think it was right for absconding criminals to surrender themselves in the office of the attorney general and he did protest -rightly or wrongly – against Government’s decision to open up the practice for foreign lawyers and allow them to enter into partnerships when partnerships were still being denied to Mauritian lawyers.

“But the Bar Council together with the attorney general have failed to act responsibly in the Appleby matter. I find this scandalous and shameful”, says lawyer and Labour MP, Shakeel Mohamed.

The real issue, it seems then, is not political. “Politics has always been associated with the law. The issue is the quasi-monopoly that the Moollan legal firm has on the Bar Council”, says a lawyer, member of the Bar Council. He reckons that this year’s elections - that should have been held last Friday but were postponed - will be interesting “and could signal the end of that monopoly.”

Prospective candidates are Anil Gayan, a politician and political adversary of attorney general, Rama Valayden, Rex Stephen, a perceived mouth-piece of Valayden and Mooloo Gujadhur from the Moollan Chambers.

Anil Gayan was not as vocal in his criticisms of President Ramburn when we contacted him. On the issue of the liberalization of the practice, he says he is all for it “if Mauritians can also benefit from the liberalisation.”

He also maintains that the Bar Council - as well as the profession - has suffered from monopoly for too long. The Mauritius Bar Association Act, the legislation that governs the Bar Council, does not make it compulsory for lawyers to join and gives no powers to the Association to take sanctions against the profession’s black sheep.

Some 75% of the 300 Mauritian lawyers are members. The Bar Council is often sought for its views regarding drafts of bills and the reform of existing laws. Controversies within the Council do not sit well with its function as a voice for the legal profession and the guardian of its ethics.