Sometimes ago, the Body of SANs purportedly issued a statement suggesting that the anti-graft war should be conducted within the limits of the law. It is believed that the body took the position because of two of their members were currently charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). What is your view? That is not true, if any lawyer is found to have committed an offence; he should be investigated properly and be prosecuted but he should not be harassed. The point must be made that a suspicion no matter how strong, does not amount to guilt. You can suspect me of committing a wrong but until I am investigated and prosecuted to the point of conviction, it is still a mere suspicion. So, presumption of innocence should be maintained.The matter should not be dramatized in a manner that will suggest that the person is already convicted. Is it wrong for a lawyer to assist a judge financially, especially when the judge is in need? We must understand our cultural values, so there is nothing wrong in helping a friend unless he has proved otherwise. A friend is a friend any day. The fact that he is now a judge does not mean he is no longer your friend anymore. If he is your relation, the fact that he is now a judge does mean he is less a relation than he was before his appointment as a judge. What is special about a judge? He is just a person. So if he is celebrating an event and normally I should be there to celebrate and support him, why should I not support him because, he is judge? It is just the scale of support that matters. This is because there are certain things you will do and people will say ‘’this is too much’’! I have judges as friends who have given judgements against me; they won’t seize to be my friends because of that. If I want to help them, I should do my research and conduct my case properly and diligently. The fact that he is my friend makes it more important for me to work harder and ensure that whatever judgement I get before him, is on merit because people will scrutinize it. So, all must be convinced that the judgement I get is based on merit and that it can be defended. I will not be helping the judge and myself if I handle the matter in a lackadaisical manner.In my younger days, I was the personal assistant to Sir Darnley Arthur Alexander, who was the Chief Justice of Nigeria between 1975 and 1979. I know that he accepts gifts from his friends but if you’re not his friend he would not. He told us not to accept gifts on his behalf from people who are not his friends. If he does not know you and you are not his friend, why should he accept gifts from you? Why are you coming to give him a gift and what are the bases? But, if you’re a friend and you come around during Christmas and say ‘’hey Sir Darnley take this gift for Christmas, he will understand that you’re coming to him as a friend’’.I know some judges who will instruct their staff not to accept gifts on their behalf. They only accept gifts from people they know because they know that there are no ulterior motives to it and that it is not a Greek gift. Granted some may have ulterior motives for giving gifts, if you give a judge gift because you have a matter before him, such gift should not be accepted. Hence a good judge must be circumspect when somebody gives something extraordinary. If you have an agreement with your lawyers that if they attract briefs to the chamber outside our traditional clients, they will be entitled to a percentage aside from their normal salaries, you must keep to that arrangement. If before the brief is disposed off, the lawyer has been elevated to the Bench, that does not mean that what is entitled to him, he will not get? That will not be fair. The National Judicial Council (NJC) recently recommended two judges for compulsory retirement with immediate effect. What is your take on this? Well in any system, self- assessment helps a lot. In the judiciary, NJC is the apex in terms of discipline of judicial officers. For instance, a judge who is lazy or who lacked sufficient knowledge, there is no point keeping him on the Bench. When allegations are laid, the NJC will investigate it and see is there is element of truth in them. If it amounts to unreasonable delay of justice, then the judge must be questioned.Well, it is good for our system, judicial officers have enormous powers, and they have power of life and death over their fellow humans. So, judges must bear in mind that they also are being watched. The fact that a judge did not decide a case in a particular manner does not mean he is corrupt, it may just be that, that is how he sees the matter and that is how he understands it. You can lose a case because a judge does not understand the point you are raising and does not understand the intricacy of the case and does not understand the point of law you are raising. If he genuinely does not understand, it does not make him a corrupt person. But, there could also be cases where people just decide to turn their eyes away from facts and reality and decide a case in a manner it ought not to be decided. If one has evidence that the judge had taken the position he has taken for reason other than the law and facts, then you have reasons to complain to the appropriate authority; not based on mere suspicion, you must have something concrete that the judge has been subject of some influence other than the law and fact. So, if a judge is found wanting, then he should be disciplined. As you are judging, you also at some point in time will be judged, if not on this planet the where we get there (heaven). By WALE IGBINTADE Source: nationalmirroronline]]>