By Kellys Kaunda
WHY I THINK COUNSEL DICKSON JERE SHOULD CONTINUE WRITING ON LAW
When journalists study and enter other professions, something begins to happen to the latter: the mystery behind them begin to peel off.
For instance, if a journalist becomes an engineer, a medical doctor, a farmer, a football coach, you name it, they may start to write about them.
Speaking for myself, beyond journalism, I have studied public policy, energy, climate change, security, psychology, international trade diplomacy, among other disciplines.
Consequently, I write on these matters frequently because I see them through a media and communication prism.
When we acquire other degrees, as journalists, what immediately comes to our minds is to turn them into stories or material for public education.
There’s a way in which journalism packages subjects normally hidden in jargon for ease of public consumption.
This way, the public becomes intelligent about the disciplines in question. In turn, they seek professional help armed with intelligent questions.
But being intelligent about other disciplines doesn’t make you a professional. It simply helps you shop around intelligently.
For instance, some doctors like Aaron Mujajati have been educating the public on health matters for a long time.
In fact, there’s a branch of medicine dedicated to teaching health matters for the benefit of the public.
ZNBC has been running a lot of programs on health matters. But people haven’t stopped seeking medical assistance.
Instead, they help prevent hazardous lifestyles just as a basic understanding of the law helps the public avoid committing offenses or avoid fraudsters.
In any case, just as in medicine, there is always a disclaimer, namely, “This is no substitute for professional assistance”.
Media Houses, especially in the west, employ lawyers, doctors, former military officers, economists, etc., to regularly report and comment on developments that touch on disciplines of their expertise.
Here at home, it was (and I think it still is) the practice of media houses such as the Times of Zambia, the Zambia Daily Mail and ZNBC to assign permanent reporters to cover court stories.
This is because legal issues are important stories for the public. So, to have a former journalist continue this role after qualifying as a lawyer is a bonus for both the journalism profession and the public.
In fact, media houses in Zambia could contract him to be a regular guest on matters of law or assign him a column to write on legal matters important for public consumption.
Furthermore, legal education of the kind Counsel Jere has been doing encourages the public to avoid taking matters into their own hands but seek professional legal services to settle them.
This means, contrary to the suggestion that lawyers’ business would suffer, it should boom.
In any case, the cases Counsel Jere shares are a matter of public record. The courts issue them for public consumption. They want the public to know about them and learn from them.
In fact, this is precisely why most court cases are conducted in open court where members of the public are in attendance.
The service Counsel Jere is doing is to bring these cases out of their shelves, give them context, and place them on a public platform.
This way, beyond the parties to the matter, a lot more people become beneficiaries.
In other words, those judgments are not an exclusive preserve of lawyers or a commercial opportunity for them.
Instead, those judgments are tools for public education. Indirectly, they serve as an encouragement to those looking for a career in law.
As a matter of fact, the Law Association of Zambia, LAZ, must encourage public education in respect of legal matters.