The swearing-in ceremony took place on July 9, 2014, before the President of the Court of Appeal, Centre Region, Emmanuel Arroye Betou.

83 new lawyers were sworn into the Cameroon Bar Association, yesterday July 9, at the Appeal Court in Yaounde, Centre Region. The lawyers, who took the oath before the President of the Appeal Court in Yaounde, Centre Region, Emmanuel Arroye Betou, Advocate General, Noe Ngong and the Representative of the Bar President, Barrister Philippe Memong; were told to uphold the ethics of the profession; observe and maintain the respect due to the courts of justice and judicial officers.

The Advocate General, Noe Ngong, drilled the new bar members on the qualities of a good lawyer, which include, being independent, contentious, have moral rectitude, have a mastery of the law and being loyal. For over 30 minutes, the Advocate General told the lawyers that they were expected to abide by the tenets of morality, not only upon admission into the Bar, but also throughout their legal career, in order to maintain a good standing in their exclusive and honoured fraternity. Noe Ngong said good moral character is more than just the absence of bad character.

Such character expresses itself in the will to do the unpleasant thing, if it is right, and the resolve not to do the pleasant thing, if it is wrong. “This must be so because vast interests are committed to the career of a lawyer who is a recipient of unbounded trust and confidence as he deals with his client’s property, reputation, life and all,” Noe Ngong underscored. While stating that the legal profession is an office laden with a great amount of trust that demands personal integrity, he said it was important for the newly sworn lawyers to be more involved in constant research in a bid to correctly carry out their responsibility.

Amongst the 83 new lawyers, 64 did internship in different law firms in the country and were successful after writing the Bar examination, 18 others were registered members of the Nigeria Bar Association after graduating from the Nigeria Law School while one is a Cameroonian who was a lawyer in Canada and gained direct admission into the Cameroon Bar Association.

The Representative of the Bar President, Philippe Memong said after fulfilling the conditions for admission into the Cameroon Bar Association, that is, the need to have been called to a foreign bar, having a first degree in law, having a certificate of good standing with no criminal records, being a Cameroonian, having paid dues and being a barrister, the 83 young lawyers were apt to be officially sworn in. The swearing in ceremony was an opportunity for Barrister Philppe Memong to decry lapses in the profession especially when some individuals, who are not lawyers, decide to play the role of lawyers in certain courts in the country.