Jiti Ogunye Faults Appeal Court On Indicted Judges, Says It Only Confer Immunity On Judges Arbitrarily

No section of the Constitution or portion of our laws supports what they did. None. Section 158 merely provides for the independence of the bodies named therein in the conduct of their administrative proceedings.. It does not grant the immunity now being claimed by these judges. In any case, the outcomes of the decisions of these bodies are still subject to judicial review under section 6 (6)(b) of the Constotution; and for the National Judicial Council, NJC in particular, as far as appointment and disciplinary actions are concerned, it only recommends . The appointing authority is the President or Governor, subject to the approval of the Senate or House of Assembly in appropriate cases. Ditto for disciplinary actions. It only recommends disciplinary actions. So, the argument that the NJC has the absolute authority to first discipline an erring judge as a condition precedent before a court can assume criminal jurisdiction over the judge or before the judge can be investigated is not part of our law. This judgement is a blatant legislative or creative judgement. The judiciary has just decided to create its own immunity law. Of course, there is judicial immunity. But it is that immunity protecting a judge from civil liability in the performance of his judicial duty. Thus, a judge cannot be sued in civil action for ” misjudging ” a case or for not judging it quickly thereby giving an advantage to an adversary. This judicial immunity does not extend to or cover criminal culpability of a judex. Bottom line : Arbitrariness is taking over everywhere. ]]>