The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, GCON, has issued the Supreme Court (Mandatory Upload of Electronic Copies of Processes, Record of Appeal, and Other Matters) Practice Directions, 2026, mandating the electronic submission of all processes and records of appeal through the Nigeria Case Management System (NCMS) portal, authorising appellants to compile and transmit records of appeal directly to the Supreme Court, prescribing a N500,000 fee for transmission of records, and imposing a N10,000 daily default penalty for failure to file processes within prescribed periods.
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The Practice Directions, issued pursuant to Section 236 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and Orders 5, 17, 19, and 22 of the Supreme Court Rules 2024, takes effect from Tuesday, July 1, 2026. It applies to all matters currently pending before the Supreme Court as well as matters initiated after the commencement date.
Purpose: Timeliness, Case Management, and Access
The CJN stated that the purpose of the Practice Directions is “to facilitate ongoing efforts to ensure timeliness in justice delivery, improve case management, simplify access to court records, and enhance overall administration of justice.”
The Practice Directions represents the most significant step toward the digitalisation of practice before the Supreme Court of Nigeria, moving the apex court from a paper-based filing system to one that requires electronic submission as a condition for the scheduling of matters for hearing.
Mandatory Electronic Submission
From the commencement date, all parties are required to submit electronic copies of records and filed processes in accordance with the Practice Directions.
For matters already pending before the Supreme Court, each party must submit electronic copies of processes filed by that party and processes served on that party by another party in the proceeding. For matters commenced after the Practice Directions takes effect, each party must submit electronic copies of processes filed by that party.
Each party, or where represented by counsel, their counsel, bears responsibility for making submissions in compliance with the Practice Directions.
Technical Requirements: OCR-Enabled, Searchable, Hyperlinked
The Practice Directions prescribes specific technical requirements for all electronic documents. All documents must be submitted in Optical Character Recognition (OCR) enabled PDF format with the text fully searchable for accessibility and navigation. Each document must include a hyperlinked table of contents at its beginning to facilitate easy navigation to specific sections within the document.
These requirements mean that scanned documents that are merely image-based PDFs without searchable text will not satisfy the Practice Directions. Lawyers must ensure that all documents are either created digitally or, if scanned, processed through OCR software to make the text searchable, and must include navigable hyperlinks in the table of contents.
NCMS Portal and Legal Email
Electronic copies must be submitted through the court’s designated online portal at https://efiling.courts.gov.ng, or such other portal as may be designated by the Chief Registrar.
The Practice Directions specifies that the Nigeria Case Management System (NCMS) shall only be accessible by the legal mail system issued by the court or such other electronic mail system as the Chief Registrar may designate. This means that access to the filing system is restricted to authenticated legal email addresses, adding a layer of security and verification to the electronic filing process.
Document Naming Convention
The Practice Directions prescribes a specific naming convention for all electronic documents, set out in the First Schedule. Every electronic copy must be named in the following format: Appeal Number (hyphen) Description of Process (hyphen) Filing Party (hyphen) Document Reference Number.
For example: SC_000_2012–Record of Appeal–Appellant–001, or SC_CV_000_2026–Appellant’s Brief–Appellant–002.
Where the appeal number contains the forward slash character (“/”), it must be replaced with an underscore (“_”) since computer file names do not permit forward slashes. Thus SC/4381/2012 becomes SC_4381_2012, and SC/CV/2649/2026 becomes SC_CV_2649_2026.
The sequential document reference number commences with “001” for the first process filed by a party and continues consecutively for each subsequent process.
Declaration of Completeness and Authenticity
The Practice Directions introduces a solemn declaration requirement: the party or counsel making a submission must make a solemn declaration on oath through the submission portal, affirming that the electronic copies submitted represent a true and complete version of the documents filed in court.
This provision addresses the integrity of electronic records by requiring counsel to personally vouch, under oath, for the authenticity and completeness of the documents they upload. A false declaration would constitute a serious professional and potentially criminal matter.
Deadlines: 30 Days Before Hearing
The Practice Directions establishes clear deadlines for submission. Electronic copies of documents in pending matters must be submitted not later than thirty days before the hearing, unless otherwise directed by the Chief Justice.
Hard copies of electronically filed documents must be submitted to the registry within seven days or 48 hours before the hearing, whichever is earlier.
No Hearing Without Compliance
The most consequential enforcement provision is that upon the expiration of the deadline, no matter shall be scheduled for hearing unless all processes filed in the matter have been submitted in accordance with the Practice Directions.
This means that non-compliance with the electronic filing requirements does not merely attract a penalty. It prevents the matter from being heard at all. Lawyers who fail to upload their documents electronically within the prescribed time will find their matters removed from the hearing list, a consequence that could have devastating implications for time-sensitive appeals, particularly election petitions and criminal appeals involving defendants in custody.
Direct Compilation and Transmission of Records by Appellants
One of the most practically significant innovations in the Practice Directions is the provision authorising appellants to compile and transmit records of appeal directly to the Supreme Court without waiting for the registry of the lower court to do so.
Under the existing practice, the compilation and transmission of the record of appeal is the responsibility of the registrar of the court below. Delays in this process, which can stretch for months or even years in some cases, have been a perennial source of frustration for appellants and have contributed to the backlog of cases at the Supreme Court.
The Practice Directions provides that an appellant may, upon written notice to the registrar of the court below, compile and transmit the record of appeal directly to the Supreme Court before the time prescribed for transmission by the lower court’s registrar has elapsed, and must compile and transmit the record not later than thirty days after the prescribed time has elapsed.
This provision applies to general civil and criminal proceedings under Order 6 Rule 1(1) or (2), fast-track criminal appeals under Order 14, and election matters under Order 15.
Electronic Record of Appeal
An appellant who compiles the record of appeal directly must upload an OCR-enabled electronic copy of the record in searchable PDF format onto the NCMS platform. The Appeal Number generated on the NCMS platform must be clearly inscribed on all physical copies of the Record of Appeal transmitted to the court.
The record of appeal is deemed to have been transmitted on the day on which the electronic copy is uploaded onto the NCMS platform and an Appeal Number is generated. This provision effectively makes the date of electronic upload, rather than the date of physical delivery, the operative date of transmission, a significant practical change that eliminates disputes about when records were received.
Fees
The Practice Directions prescribes a fee of N500,000 for the transmission and uploading of a record of appeal, payable by the appellant upon transmission. Any party requesting the transmission and uploading of additional copies of the record of appeal must pay N250,000.
These fees are in addition to such amount as may be assessed by the registrar of the court below for compilation and transmission of the record.
Security for Costs
The Practice Directions provides that in assessing the amount of security for costs and due prosecution of an appeal, the registrar may have regard to the complexity of the case and any previous order as to costs made by the courts below which remains unpaid by the appellant.
This provision gives the registrar discretion to require higher security deposits for complex cases and to take into account unpaid costs orders from lower courts, potentially preventing appellants who have not complied with costs orders from pursuing appeals at the Supreme Court without first satisfying those obligations.
Exemption for Indigent Parties
A person who has obtained leave to proceed as an indigent party under Order 5 Rule 3 of the Supreme Court Rules is exempt from the N500,000 transmission fee and the requirement to give security for costs. This provision ensures that the digitalisation of the court’s processes does not create a barrier to access for litigants who cannot afford the prescribed fees.
Daily Default Penalty
The Second Schedule introduces an amendment to the Schedule of Fees in Civil Matters, adding a new item: for failure to file any process within the prescribed period, a fee of N10,000 for each additional day of default. This daily penalty operates in addition to the fees set out in the Second Schedule of the Supreme Court Rules and creates a financial incentive for timely compliance with filing deadlines.
The Significance
The Practice Directions represents a landmark step in the modernisation of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Several aspects carry particular significance.
First, the mandatory nature of the electronic filing requirement, backed by the sanction that non-compliant matters will not be scheduled for hearing, ensures that the digitalisation initiative cannot be treated as optional. Previous attempts at court digitalisation in Nigeria have often failed because electronic filing was offered as an alternative rather than a requirement, resulting in low adoption rates.
Second, the direct compilation and transmission provision addresses one of the most persistent bottlenecks in the Nigerian appellate process. By empowering appellants to take control of the record compilation process rather than remaining dependent on overburdened lower court registries, the Practice Directions has the potential to significantly reduce the time between the filing of an appeal and its readiness for hearing.
Third, the technical requirements, specifically OCR-enabled PDFs with searchable text and hyperlinked tables of contents, set a standard that, if enforced, will transform the accessibility of court records at the Supreme Court. Justices and their research assistants will be able to search documents electronically, navigate directly to relevant sections, and work more efficiently with the record.
Fourth, the deemed date of transmission provision, which treats the date of electronic upload as the operative date, removes a common source of litigation and uncertainty about when records were received.
The Practice Directions was issued by Hon. Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, GCON, Chief Justice of Nigeria, and takes effect from Tuesday, July 1, 2026.
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