Confidence in judiciary nose-diving – CJN

ABUJA—The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, yesterday, expressed concern over the quality of judgments emanating from various courts in the country, insisting that public confidence and trust in the judiciary has nosedived.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2013 refresher course for judicial officers, organized by the National Judicial Institute, NJI, in Abuja, the CJN noted that “a public uproar or placard-carrying scenario against the judgment of a court of record is not to the credit of the judiciary as an arm of government.”

She added that “where therefore a judge is found to be complicit in the writing and delivery of a judgment, the National Judicial Council, NJC, as the constitutional regulatory body, will not hesitate to wield the big stick.”

Judgments must be unambiguous

According to the CJN: “A judge should write in a simple and unambiguous manner such that it leaves no one in doubt as to what the judgment has addressed. A judgment should meet the justice of the matter or controversies between the contending parties. It is certainly not good for a judgment to be capable of more than one interpretation otherwise why was the judge called upon

to intervene in the first place?

“I have noted earlier that for the Institute to devote this course to addressing issues of judgment writing and judgment delivery could not have come at a more auspicious time than now. The National Judicial Council through its Performance Evaluation Committee is concerned about both the quality of the output of judges in terms of the monthly returns they file.

“Aside from this, let us not deceive ourselves, the public confidence and trust in our work as judicial officers are beginning to nosedive. This is borne out partly from judgments emanating from our courts which the public or a section of it feels is rather unconscionable. Agreed, judges are not spirits, they are human beings.

They are members of the society. What this portends is that the judgment we write and deliver must be a reflection of adequate considerations of the facts as presented by the parties, available evidence properly led to support the facts and the state of the law on the subject of adjudication.

“Again, I concede that as judges we are accorded some semblance of discretion particularly in criminal cases. I must, however, hasten to add that the exercise of any discretion in adjudication must be judicially, judiciously and reasonably exercised. A judge must not put himself in a position where the exercise of his discretion is deemed to be unreasonable in the estimation and assessment of a reasonable member of the society.

“Of course, a public uproar or placard-carrying scenario against the judgment of a court of record is not to the credit of the judiciary as an arm of government. I have heard the aphorism a couple of times that in the court, the rich get bail while the poor get jailed. To what extent have we as judges turned justice away from the highest bidder?

NJC to wield the big stick

“Where, therefore, a judge is found to be complicit in the writing and delivery of a judgment, the National Judicial Council, as the constitutional regulatory body will not hesitate to wield the big stick.

But beyond the intervention of the National Judicial Council, I urge you all to remember at all times that you are representatives of God in your courts, that as you sit in judgment over others, you are also standing at judgment and that, one day, we shall all stand before God to be judged.”

In his welcome address, the administrator of NJI, Justice Umaru Eri, said the workshop was designed to create an avenue for Judges and Kadis from different jurisdictions to cross fertilize ideas on grey areas of law and to enrich and consolidate their experiences.

“It is therefore instructive to note that the Refresher Course is aimed at providing the Judges and Kadis the opportunity to develop and update their intellects to reposition themselves for optimum performance of their duties at the temple of justice.

“The theme of this Workshop, to wit: Towards a Culture of Better Judgment Writing and Judgment Delivery is both apt and timely.  This is so, more importantly, considering the glaring fact that the sustenance of peace in Nigerian society depends, to a great extent, on what the Judges do in the courts.

“Therefore, the need to develop a mode or style of judgment writing and delivery cannot be overemphasized; bearing in mind that the country and indeed, the citizens have reposed a great trust in the Nigerian Judiciary, spanning the pre-military and military era, and, therefore, we cannot afford to fail them now.

“The judgment we write and deliver deals with the tension between the desire for people to take justice into their hands, exact revenge in self-help, as opposed to the processes of the law which in my opinion, is determined by fair trial and fair judgment.

“I cannot but urge you to refrain from any conduct that may compromise your exalted positions and the integrity of the Judiciary. We must eschew corruption in all its ramifications and deliver judgments without fear or favour.  None of our actions, both on the Bench and outside the Court room should have the inkling of the cankerworm.

“Your judgments must, therefore, be seen as always coming from credible Bench, composed of credible personalities,” he stated