Nioki, May 19th, 2025 (CPA)– Seventy (70) new lawyers were sworn in on Monday during a ceremony to swear in and renew their oaths at the Maï-Ndombe Court of Appeal in the south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Maï-Ndombe Court of Appeal, sitting in a mobile court chamber in Nioki in the territory of Kutu, in the province of Mai-Ndombe in the south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo, took the oath of office during its solemn public hearing on Monday in the Catholic coordination room, as reported by the CPA. ‘In the year 2025, on the 19th day of May, the Maï-Ndombe Court of Appeal held a solemn public hearing for the swearing-in of lawyers in the Nioki courtroom on the presentation of applicants by Mr Jerubaal Mputu Mukajila, President of the Bar at the Maï-Ndombe Court of Appeal, and after the public prosecutor’s closing address, received the swearing-in of trainee lawyers, the renewals of their oaths and the judicial defenders in their capacity as lawyers on the role of the bar of the Maï-Ndombe Court of Appeal’, said Faustin Mangapi, court clerk, as he read out the minutes of the hearing. The 70 lawyers, including 9 women, took the following oath: ‘I swear to respect the constitution and obey the law. To defend and advise with dignity, conscience, independence and humanity, not to say or publish anything contrary to the law, judicial decisions, public morality, State security or public peace, and never to deviate from the respect due to the courts, magistrates and public authorities. Not to advise or defend any cause that I do not believe to be right in my heart and conscience’. Jerubaal Mputu, President of the Bar at the Maï-Ndombe Court of Appeal, announced that the next training and swearing-in session is scheduled for August in Mushie, a territory in the province.
A total of 70 lawyers, including 47 trainee lawyers and six (6) former judicial defenders, were sworn in. There were also 17 oath renewals.