The President of the Court of Appeal, Monica Dongban-Mensem, on Tuesday, faulted recent critical comments of the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata, about the ongoing process of appointing 18 judges for her court.
Ms Dongban-Mensem, who spoke at a webinar organised by the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), said contrary to Mr Akpata’s assertion, there was nothing wrong with appointing judges in anticipation that they would learn on the job.
Mr Akpata had recently criticised the shoddiness of the interview conducted for the candidates by the National Judicial Council (NJC), which he said hurriedly interviewed 20 nominees within two hours.
The NBA president, a member of the NJC who turned into taking part within the council’s interview of judicial nominees for the first time, additionally expressed shock that “Important prison issues that had been every now and then placed to the nominees could not be answered”.
He stated he heard things like “they'll analyze at the activity” in the course of the interview.
Reaction
But speakme at the digital ‘Roundtable on Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Judgments within the Nigerian Legal System’ organised via PACAC, Ms Dongban-Mensem said it become normal for judges to examine at the task, as applicable to other forms of task.
She said, “Somebody stated there may be room for studying and the President of the Nigerian Bar Association took offence that any individual stated that humans will analyze at the process. Who doesn’t research on the task?
“Professor Sagay, did you know the whole thing you should do when you have been appointed as chairman of PACAC? Has he not learnt some things? Has he no longer commenced searching at a few different matters in a different way?”
She said the incapability of a choose to answer a query on a particular difficulty changed into not sufficient grounds to disclaim ”that person the opportunity of being expanded to a better court docket’s bench”.
She said, “I mean, all of us examine. In the Court of Appeal, we sit in panels and we assist each other. Somebody might also recognise more approximately something. Some of the judges of the Court of Appeal may not have had the privilege of sitting on maritime cases.
“Will you deny them the possibility of being appointed on the Court of Appeal bench due to the fact they do now not realize the meaning of maritime law? Don’t they understand different things? Will they now not examine from others?
“These are a number of the matters that tell our decisions. So, humans have to be a bit bit type with the judiciary when they exit and try to criticise and throw the entirety away.”
She stated despite the barrage of attacks on judges, “I can assure you that there are men and women of integrity within the judiciary.”
‘Politics can’t be kept out of appointment of judges’
She also said there was nothing incorrect in politicians’ foyer for the appointments of candidates from the constituencies as judges.
“The pastimes are various. We are special parts of the country. You can't hold politics out of the appointment into the judiciary,” she said.
She introduced that whilst politicians had been inside their rights to lobby for his or her desired candidates, the judiciary had continually ensured that the high-quality candidates emerged.
The Appeal Court president stated, “They are representing their humans. So, you can't stop politicians from advocating for (sic) human beings from their areas to be represented in judicial appointments.
“But I can assure you, that isn't what publications. We examine all of these items and take the satisfactory. If our bests have not been proper enough, there's room for improvement, we are still mastering, we've got now not closed the bus.”
Sagay, Falana, others weigh in
Various speakers, such as the chairman of PACAC, Itse Sagay, human rights legal professional, Femi Falana, and others also weighed on the matter.
Mr Sagay, a professor of regulation, stated “cautious attention need to be paid to the manner Judges are appointed” for the aim of the judicial machine to be completed.
He also said there was “the need to seek the opinions of the local bar and associates concerning the health of prospective appointees for office, earlier than forwarding their names to the NJC.”
He charged judges not to simply churn out judgments but to always ensure that justice became done in all their choices.
He also known as on them “to go back to the pristine age whilst our judges’ chambers and courts have been hallowed locations in which even angels feared to tread; the technology while judges spoke and it become finished because they had been an embodiment of excessive moral authority and they supplied justice to all guys in all matters.”
Yemi Candide-Johnson, who's a member of Justice Reform Project (JRP), an business enterprise that is worried with topics about the Nigerian judiciary, said “judges have to count on to be held liable for the public trust which they keep”.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) introduced, “Properly selected, they'll be qualified to meet the right evaluation standards of performance and effectiveness and to be tested by way of the effective disposal of cases, the hours employed to accomplish that, and the satisfaction of the general public who is the primary stakeholder.”
Mr Falana, additionally a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, argued that the judges need to not be blamed entirely for the rot without considering the contributions of legal professionals to the trouble.
He noted that even as the judiciary had constantly endeavoured to discipline erring judges, the NBA had usually abdicated its function of bringing erring attorneys to justice.
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