Lawyer Writes CJN, Senate President, Requests Publication Of SC Judgements & Laws On Website

A Legal Practitioner, Godstime Chukwuemeka Ejide has written a letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Muhammad Tanko urging that the Supreme Court do publish all its judgements on its website immediately after delivery of same.

This is contained in a letter written to the CJN dated 14th day of August, 2020 which was made available to TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL), with the title “REQUEST FOR PUBLICATION OF SUPREME COURT JUDGMENTS ON THE SUPREME COURT’S WEBSITE IMMEDIATELY THEY ARE DELIVERED”.

Meanwhile, he noted that it is expedient that the request be granted for easy dispensation of justice and case management system, stating that law reporting companies do not always find it easy to publish swiftly after delivery of these judgments.

“It is pathetic that in this 21st century, legal practitioners and other stakeholders in the justice system still rely primarily on law reporting companies to access copies of Supreme Court judgments. The law reporting companies apparently do not find it easy to access some of these judgments timeously as some judgments are reported months after they were delivered despite the fact that the mainstream law reporting companies engage in weekly reportage/publication. The situation is not different for companies that engage in electronic publications. The other option would be to apply for a Certified True Copy(CTC) directly from the Court.” He said.

In addition, he stated that the judgement of some other countries are easily made accessible on the Court’s website immediately after delivery which is not the position in Nigeria.

“Judgments of the Supreme Court are public documents that should be accessed with little or no constraint. In some jurisdictions, judgments of their superior courts are made available on their courts’ websites moments after they are delivered by the courts. It, therefore, turns out that it is easier to be informed or to conduct a research about the legal development of some countries like the United Kingdom, the United States and even South Africa, than that of Nigeria since their legal resources are easily and readily available online. Here in Nigeria, all we often get immediately a judgment is delivered is media reportage which sometimes, leaves the audience in confusion on what actually transpired in the court.”

While the obvious lack of developments in our legal space has always been attributed to poor finance and insufficient infrastructures, I believe that neither of these is a challenge to this proposal.

“No special cost would be incurred since the Supreme Court already has an official website. All that is needed for this purpose is to boost the functionality of the website by a diligent team which would see to the publication of the texts on the website the moment the judgments are delivered. This will also enhance the business of law reporting.” He added .

Finally, he urged the Chief Justice to direct the implementation of same by the Heads of superior courts in Nigeria.

“Finally, I further urge your Lordship to use his venerable office as the head of the judiciary to enforce same in all the superior courts of record in Nigeria.” He concluded.

In another development, the Lawyer equally wrote to the Senate President, urging that the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria be published on the website of the National Assembly.

This is further contained in a letter addressed to the Senate President dated 14th day of August, 2020 which was made available to TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL), titled APPEAL FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF A COMPLETE AND UPDATED ELECTRONIC DATABASE OF THE LAWS OF THE FEDERATION OF NIGERIA ON THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY’S WEBSITE”.

Meanwhile, he noted that the appeal is necessary for the “easy accessibility” of the Laws to the public.

“The standard practice in some jurisdictions is to maintain a Bill tracking system on the official website of their parliamentary bodies up to the point the Bills become laws. The laws are thereafter made available immediately on the website for the public. Though I can attest to the presence of such a tracking system on the National Assembly’s website, unfortunately, some of the laws are not published after enactment.” He said.

Finally, he said that since Laws are public documents, it is imperative for such to be brought to the attention of the public, since ignorance of the Law is not an excuse.

“Technology has come to that aid and should be utilized efficiently by our law-making bodies and relevant government agencies”. He concluded.