Are lawyers on strike?

Since the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) went on strike early this year, Nigerians who have had no relationship with our court system as litigants have been asking why lawyers are on strike and how long the strike would last.The judiciary is in place to safeguard democracy by administering justice irrespective of status; this […]

Since the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) went on strike early this year, Nigerians who have had no relationship with our court system as litigants have been asking why lawyers are on strike and how long the strike would last.
The judiciary is in place to safeguard democracy by administering justice irrespective of status; this is made possible through the various courts of law in the land. The courts perform their function effectively through support staff like registrar, clerk, stenographer, sheriff, bailiff et al provided to aid judges, magistrates, tribunal chairmen in the dispensation of justice.  This support staff play important role in the administration of justice as they contribute one way or the other to the time and manner justice is being served, the majority of them are not lawyers.
These support staff are the ones on strike seeking financial autonomy from their various state governments that pay them salaries, whether the state governments are ready to grant them the autonomy or not is a discussion for another time.
Lawyers on the other hand are private practitioners, who don’t rely on government for their pay checks except those under salaried employment with government or her agencies. We have lawyers whose practice borders on taxation, property transaction, corporate governance, maritime law etc, and then there are the majority of lawyers whose practice is solely litigation. These set of lawyers cannot perform their duties effectively without a functioning court system, they are the ones most hit by the strike.
One school of thought is of the opinion that the JUSUN strike is well timed. To one supporter, the campaign period is the best time to get the attention of politicians especially sitting governors running for re-election; to another school of thought, which I strongly believe in, the strike is ill-timed as the nation in her bid to change democratic government needs a functioning judiciary, not only that, judicial proceedings in several states have been stalled – the police now detain persons for no good reason and keep them longer than they should.
The federal judiciary comprising of staff working in Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Federal High Court and High Court of FCT called off their strike as they are not affected by the autonomy issue, they only joined in the first place for solidarity purpose.
The State High Court on the other hand is the court with the widest jurisdiction in the constitution, majority of the litigation that lawyers handle happen in the state court and these states are yet to call off their strike pending when the respective governors agree to their terms, though Lagos, Rivers and Delta have called theirs off.
Since there is not much a litigation lawyer can do without a functioning court system that is why it looks to the public that lawyers are on strike. It is unlikely for a lawyer to go on strike, if he does, other lawyers available would provide the legal services to his clients.
It is the lawyers ‘work-chop’ that is on strike, considering that elections are around the corner and also that litigation lawyers are really finding it economically difficult right now unlike JUSUN who are still being paid while on strike.  It is imperative that the governors of the affected states and officials of JUSUN come to a round table and work on taking the Nigeria Judiciary to the next level, not slow it down.
A big shout out to all the young wigs who turned three years at the BAR February 14, 2015 {Valentine call}, would be writing a piece on it next week but right now JUSUN please we need you to call off the strike, even if the governors don’t see the importance of a functioning judiciary right now, as staff of the court, JUSUN is aware of the lives and properties of Nigerians that are being affected on a daily basis because the state courts are not working.
Let the bigger interest of a better Nigeria prevail.

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