*Says Group Does Not, In Principle, Oppose The Holding Of A Valedictory Session For Any Outgoing Court Of Appeal President Or Judge/Justice Of Any Court
*Says Valedictories Cannot And Ought Not Be Scheduled In A Way That They Conflict With The Primary Responsibilities Of Courts
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Access to Justice has called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the National Judicial Council to immediately deploy procedures to enforce the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers rules on the primary responsibilities of courts and Judges and enforce the priority of the needs of court users over other programmes or functions of Judges/Justices of courts in order to reduce delays in the adjudication of cases.
The group made this appeal whilst speaking on the topic, Valedictory Programmes For Out-Gone President Of Court Of Appeal Exacted Heavy Price On Official And Primary Court Business – Reforms Needed To Prevent Courts Causing Serious Trial Delay Problems, on the 6th of March. 2020.
In the statement made available to TheNigerialawyer (TNL), and signed by the Convener, Joseph Otteh, and the Programme Officer, Daniel Aloaye, the group lamented how the valedictory programme held for the retiring President of the Court, Hon. Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa (rtd.), as well as other activities halted the business of the Court, thus, delaying justice. According to the group, valedictories cannot and ought not to be scheduled in a way that they conflict with the primary responsibilities of courts and impose disproportionate costs and burdens on the users of these courts.
“On Friday 6th of March 2020, a number of monitored divisions of the Court of Appeal did not sit because of a valedictory programme holding for the retiring President of the Court, Hon. Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa (rtd.). In some cases, the registries of these courts did not also conduct business as well because of the absence of officials of the Court. It is safe to presume that proceedings at other divisions of the Court of Appeal did not also go on because of the valedictory programme. In the Court of Appeal divisions that were monitored, cases were listed to be heard and those cases would have to be adjourned and assigned new dates in the circumstances.
“Many divisions of the Court of Appeal have congested; heavy court dockets, and sometimes a next adjournment could be one year ahead! It is also noteworthy, that, in the weeks leading up to Hon. Justice Bulkachuwas retirement, a number of divisions of the Court of Appeal had hosted her during her farewell visits to various divisions, and it is likely that on those days, those Divisions of the Court of Appeal also did not sit and had to adjourn cases listed for hearing to later dates. In at least one case (in Enugu State Division of the Court of Appeal), this is what happened from information obtained from credible sources.
“Access to Justice does not, in principle, oppose the holding of a valedictory session for any outgoing Court of Appeal President or Judge/Justice of any court, and congratulates Hon. Justice Bulkachuwa on the completion of a successful judicial career.
“However, valedictories cannot and ought not be scheduled in a way that they conflict with the primary responsibilities of courts and impose disproportionate costs and burdens on the users of these courts. The right to a fair trial within a reasonable time is a constitutional one, and long or needless court adjournments unduly and unjustifiably infringe on this right.” Rule 3.7 of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers provides:
Speaking further, the group said that Social or ceremonial functions that disrupt a courts main business undermine the provisions and goal of Judiciarys Code of Conduct as well as contribute to worsesning the problem of long delays in the adjudication of cases in our courts; that Court trial delays have long been a major sticking point in the performance of the Judiciary and the leadership of the Judiciary ought to be finding solutions to the problem and not aggravating it, stressing that, the National Judicial Council recognizes that court delays are a major weakness of the Judiciary.
“This assessment is consistent with many published reports on the performance of the Nigerian Judiciary. Adjournments caused by reasons such as the one under reference are hardly justifiable; they give the impression that the Nigerian Judiciary is not aware enough that court delays are one of its major problems or that it is not doing anything serious or effective to address that problem. Many court users are likely to feel frustrated that their cases could not go on on scheduled days because Justices of the court hearing their matter were away on account of a purely ceremonial function, or events associated with a retiring Justice, and in some cases, for more than once! This is not the way to address the problem of court delays, or mitigate them and the Judiciary must do a lot more to plug the gaps from where many sources of this problem arise, if it wants to win back waning public confidence.
“Court delays have a serious, negative impact on court users right to a fair trial, and courts themselves have an overarching duty to avoid being the sources of this problem. Judicial valedictory ceremonies can be held in a way that is consistent, and not conflicting with the right of court users to have their business done in courts, and that is the way this has been done in the past and even till this time in some jurisdictions, the group added.
The group amongst others called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the National Judicial Council to immediately Hold judicial officers of all courts to higher standards of accountability and responsibility with respect to the use of the official business time of courts; Bar judicial officers from neglecting the performance of their primary function of attending to court business in order to attend ceremonial functions, retreats or conferences which can conveniently be held on days or hours outside of the time of the courts official business, and Bar the scheduling of ceremonial events of all courts for more than a short, specified time and ensure that judicial officers return to their courts to attend their primary responsibilities on any day such ceremonies are fixed.
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