TheNigerialawyer Opinion Poll: Lawyers And Litigants Okay Court Compensation For Failure To Sit Without Prior Notice

When a case is listed in the cause list of the court for mention and subsequently for hearing, it is the usual expectation of a legal practitioner that the case continues smoothly until the day judgment is to be delivered. This expectation has over the years not been met as many adjournments cause a hiatus in the continuation of a suit in court. Adjournments come to be as a result of many reasons. Sometimes, ill health of counsels, traffic jam, and other reasons are responsible for it. These occurrences are more often than not exasperating to some counsel who go to court prepared.  It is even more galling when a case is protracted not necessarily because the case was adjourned but because the court did not sit without prior notice. Many lawyers have been faced with this scenario and it has not been a positive record on the part of judicial officers who are pointed with ‘the accusing fingers’ in this regard. This is because over the years, counsel and litigants alike have suffered some form of damages over this disappointment after spending monies for such fruitless quests. Considering the energy and resources spent by a lawyer or litigant who travels from a far distance to be heard in court, only to welcomed with the unexpected tale of the court’s failure to sit without prior notice, it is reasonably expected that a drastic measure is taken to address the issue once and for all. It is in the light of the above that TheNigeriaLawyer conducted an independent poll to ascertain what litigants and counsel think about enacting a possible law to provide for compulsory compensation to such practitioners who have been victims of this problem. The poll started on the 10^th day of December, 2017 and ended on the 23^rd day of December, 2017 which means that the online voting lasted for almost two weeks of thirteen days. After a successful conducting of the poll, the result shows that a total number of 7830 (Seven thousand eight hundred and thirty) persons voted, out of which 91.32% of the persons voted that a law be made on that regard, while a total of 8.68 % voted against. The result is indicative of the fact that many persons who are familiar with the Nigerian Legal System are not having a happy day with respect to the supposed stories of disappointment over court’s failure to sit without prior notice. Perhaps, before this time there might have been a silent cry on how the problem can be addressed, and of course, this move by TheNigeriaLawyer has simply provided a very solid opportunity for those involved to air their own view and as well create a way forward to provide a solution to it. Some have argued that in other to solve this problem, E-lawyering should be implemented in our court rooms system. It is believed that if the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) system is fully implemented in court, it will help improve E-lawyering which will in turn bridge the communication gap between the litigants and the judges. Others argue that Judges’ failure to get their judgments prepared for delivery is one of the major causes of this problem, thus it is suggested that the Court Registry be used as the middle-house to checkmate this; a good communication between litigants and the Registry will help solve this problem:  It is to operate as a CHECKER-NETWORK; this does not necessarily need complete E-lawyering as there is the mobile phone and other manual communication means available.  In other words, lawyers must be able to connect the Registry before the day in question to be sure if the court will be sitting or not. Those against the policy have argued that there is no need for such a law as such costs will be covered by the litigant who fails in court as he or she is to pay for damages which will include the supposed expenses; vague as the opinion sounds, it was argued by some in support of the law that the reasoning does not fit into the above scenario. Whatever the opinions provided are and their points of deviation, it is practically noticed that the poll has indeed provided a platform for litigants in general to air their view on the matter. It is just hoped that a bill is drafted in no time to that effect, and that the same way persons voted for, so also should the advocacy for the passage of the bill be supported when eventually brought to limelight.]]>