Chief Afe Babalola(SAN) has described the judiciary as the least democratic branch of government, adding that “it does not quite operate an open system of appointing those who are paid from the public revenue, in the same way as the executive and legislative branches. That’s why the US adopts a democratic model.”
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He was speaking on the occasion of FOI Counsel/NBA Workshop with the theme ‘OPEN JUSTICE’ held recently.
Going forth, he stated: “In every way. Judges can make or mar a democracy: we saw this in Nigeria during General Ibrahim Badamosi years as President of Nigeria when Judges stopped the announcement of elections.
“Justice Bassey Ikpeme gave order stopping announcement of election results; a number of election tribunal judges have, after being compromised, been complicit in overturning electoral choices and awarding election victories to those who lost elections.
“Similar things are taking place today. The most recent one is taking place in Imo State – Senator Ararume’s case – right now where two courts are making conflicting orders about whether the Senator should be given Certificates of Return on not!
“But the Judiciary can also contribute to resisting tyranny, and consolidating a nation’s democracy. See the Pakistan example, with the removal of Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry by President Musharaff and how the Judiciary and Bar resisted the effort; and what Judges in India have done.”
According to him, “it is in society’s interest to closely monitor how its Judges are appointed and insist that procedures designed to produce the cream of the crop are scrupulously followed.”
In his own remarks, chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association(NBA) Benin branch, Pius Oiwo said: “A decrease in the number of statutes that threaten open justice and judicial institutional integrity has the potential to protect some aspects of open justice. I hope to learn more as the conversation continues on role of court in allowing access to public records just as it allows public hearing, new media in court room, and open court principle in criminal adjudication, transparency in the selection of judges and datasets in law and justice.
“No doubt, open justice facilitates sensationalism or curiosity about court proceedings. Appeal to open justice are most often associated with media pressure to be permitted to do more report. As stakeholders, we must maximize this workshop so as to minimize the potential harms of secrecy and or access to information.
“Restrictions on public access to court information should be exceptional and carefully delimited. We must successfully articulate at this workshop an approach to open justice that balances access against the potential harms of publicity.”
Former Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Esohe Ikponmwen, said that: “to facilitate open justice it is imperative that courts employ open data. Now the concept of open data is where data is made freely available to everyone to use and republish without restrictions from copyright patents, or other mechanisms. Open data will aid transparency and accountability in the justice sector.”
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