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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Overwhelmed by the litanny of cases in the docket of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice of Nigeria(CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola has advocated an amendment to the 1999 constitution that would end the lifespan of most cases at the Court of Appeal.
This came as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), advised the National Judicial Council (NJC) to quicken the process of filling the vacancies at the Supreme Court.
Fagbemi, expressed President Bola Tinubu’s “readiness to implement judicial reforms with the cooperation of the judiciary.
“We, therefore, earnestly await the judiciary to set the ball rolling to enable the other arms to play their part in this critical aspect of nation-building,” he said.
The CJN made the proposal in Abuja at the special session of the Supreme Court to mark the commencement of the 2023/2024 legal year and conferment of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on 58 lawyers.
“I have made it clear at different occasions that it is not every dispute that must find its way to the court, and it is not every matter that must come up to the Supreme Court on appeal.
“Our laws have to be amended to make most appeals end at the Court of Appeal,” Justice Ariwoola said.
While submitting that the appellate court is competent to adjudicate on all cases, the CJN also urged Nigerians to be less litigious and embrace alternative dispute-resolution mechanisms.
The Supreme Court as presently constituted, has only 10 Justices on its bench to grapple with both political, criminal and other civil cases pending before it.
The CJN disclosed that a total of 1,271 appeals and motions were filed at the registry of the court in the outgone year.
“Out of these, we heard 388 political appeals, 215 criminal appeals, and 464 civil appeals. Similarly, the court considered a total number of 49 criminal motions, 153 civil motions, and two political motions,” he said.
The CJN further disclosed that the Supreme Court had between September 2022 and July 2023, delivered a total number of 251 judgements.
“Out of these, 125 were political appeals, 81 were civil appeals and 45 were criminal appeals. Within the period under review (precisely 10 months’ duration), a total number of 91 Rulings were delivered by the Honourable Court,” Mr Ariwoola said, praising the Supreme Court for its output in the last legal year.
Meanwhile, Justice Ariwoola who has less than a year in office vowed to leave a legacy of having 11 more justices to the Supreme Court to achieve the unprecedented full complement of 21 justices.
Speaking on the need for judges to be upright, the CJN said integrity remains an essential quality of a judicial officer.
He urged judges to exhibit “the standards of integrity, morality, and good behaviour” in the discharge of their duties.
“In a situation where a judge decides a case wrongly out of motives, it shakes the faith of the litigant public; and by extension, the whole society.”
Justice Ariwoola who noted that a corrupt judge “has no right to continue to occupy the chair as a judicial office,” admonished judges to “lead a disciplined and principled lifestyle that will enhance their trust and integrity quotient.”
The Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN) represented by Ebun Sofunde, a SAN, said Nigerians were fast losing hope in the capacity of the judiciary to deliver justice timeously.
In response to the problem, Mr Sofunde said disgruntled Nigerians were resorting to law enforcement agents for settling disputes, a situation he described as illegal.
“Law enforcement agents now fill the void created by inefficient judicial system.
“When judges are overwhelmed by work burden, they see adjudication of cases as perfunctory,” he said.
The lawyer explained that excessive workload on judges impacts negatively on the quality of decisions emanating from the courts.
He warned that citizens’ loss of confidence in the justice system births anarchy.
He advised the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC), a body saddled with the conferment of the rank of SAN, to review its criteria in terms of the number of concluded cases lawyers are required to have in their kitty before applying for the prestigious award.
Mr Sofunde noted that the criterion concerning the number of cases to be filed by SAN applicants puts pressure on the courts as lawyers lodge frivolous suits that end up clogging the courts’ dockets.
