Zoom, Unsuitable For Virtual Court Hearing— VP Osinbajo

Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, Vice President of Federal Republic of Nigeria has stated that the teleconferencing platform, Zoom, is not completely suitable for virtual Court hearing.

This was disclosed at the National Law Students Association of Nigeria (LAWSAN) Virtual Town Hall Meeting which was held via zoom today, 6th August, 2020 where the Vice President delivered a keynote address on “How we can build the right mindset for a better Nigeria, post COVID-19”.

Meanwhile, he disclosed that although Zoom has advantages but then, not absolutely suitable for virtual hearing owing to the complexities of Court proceedings that involve tendering documents, leading witnesses amongst others.

“So, the Supreme Court has recently endorsed virtual court proceedings. This means that there will be plenty of opportunities for new technologies adapted to the dynamics of the courtroom. You can share documents on Zoom but for courtrooms and for practice, you need more nimble technology to tender documents or cross-examine a witness from a remote location on a bundle of documents.

“So, Zoom will not be the best technology for court proceedings although it is being used now but it is not the best technology because sometimes you have a bundle of documents to tender and that may be difficult. So, there is room there for innovative technology that will be suitable for use in the courtroom and I know that there are so many ideas that people are coming up with but there is plenty of room for thinking that through.” He said.

Furthermore, he remarked that there is a new for rules guiding virtual Court proceedings, stating that same is different from live proceedings.

“We also have to think about what the new rules for protocols will be. Virtual court proceedings are not the same as in-person or live court proceedings. When you are sitting in your office, conducting a case, the record-keeping will be totally a different issue. What will the protocols be for cross-examination, for making submissions? How does the judge look at the question of demeanour. It is a bit more difficult to look at people’s demeanour when you are using virtual processes such as we are using today. So, we need to be able to define what the rules will be.” He said.

“What sort of pre-trial advice do you give clients now? When witnesses are giving evidence from outside Nigeria, maybe from the US, from Greece, which is possible now if we use virtual court proceedings. In the past, a witness had to be physically present in Nigeria, but now with virtual court proceedings, a witness can sit in Denmark and give evidence in Nigeria.

“So, the question that will arise is, what are the jurisdictional problems? Do we need to change our rules as regarding jurisdiction? Can the witness truly without being present in Nigeria, give evidence? How do we assess that in terms of current legislation?” He added.

In addition, he urged that 21st century Lawyers are to be driven by digital reality, multi tasking and interdisciplinary.

“Today, a lawyer that would be fit-for-purpose must be multidisciplinary, multitasking, digitally strong man or woman of affairs. By that, I mean that a lawyer can no longer be a legal technician.

“He must be a person capable of understanding the broad dimensions of everything; business, technology, the environment and various things that are at play today.”