Admissions and Membership

Admission to Practise

In order to practise law in Malawi, you must either be a citizen of Malawi or have resided continuously in Malawi for a period of not less than three months immediately before the date of the filing of your petition for admission and either:

1. hold a degree in law awarded by the University of Malawi, or be admitted to practise as a member of the legal profession of England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, or the Republic of Ireland and have passed the Malawi Law Examinations, or
   
   
2. hold a foreign law qualification which was obtained from a jurisdiction that applies, as its prevailing basic system of law:
   
   
   • the common law or a legal system founded wholly or in part on the common law; or
     
     
   • Roman Dutch Law as applied and practised in countries of Southern Africa and in respect of which he studied, in the English language, at least all of the following subjects:
     
     
     • Civil Procedure
     • Criminal Procedure
     • Criminal Law
     • The Law of Evidence
     • The Law of Torts
     • The Law of Contracts
     • Legal Systems and Methods
     • Constitutional and Administrative Law.

Admission to practise of legally qualified public officers

If you have a degree in law awarded by the University of Malawi or have been admitted to practise as a member of the profession of law in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; and have been in active employment in a judicial or legal capacity for at least one year, you may make an application to the Chief Justice to be admitted to practise in Malawi.

Procedure for admission

You must make an application by petition addressed to the Chief Justice and verified by affidavit.

Membership

All legal practitioners who have a practising licence become members of the Society from the date on which their licence was issued.

Currently, it is not obligatory for lawyers in public service to become members of the Society but they may also apply for membership. The Society encourages all lawyers in public service to become members in order to benefit from the Society's activities such as continuing legal education and information sharing and to assist the Society in working on access to justice and rule of law issues.

The Society may also elect other individuals as members who possess legal qualifications acceptable to the Society and who consent to be elected. In addition, it may elect as honorary members, either for life or some other appropriate period, such persons it deems fit and who consent to such election.

The current annual membership fee is MK 30,000 and the annual licence expires on 31 January of each year.