‘Court is not sitting’ worries lawyers

At 09.15am after the lawyers have put on their wigs and gowns in anticipation of the judge’s entry into the courtroom for the start of the day’s proceedings, the court clerk announced, “The judge won’t be sitting. You may bring your diaries and take a new date.” This has become the norm rather than the […]

At 09.15am after the lawyers have put on their wigs and gowns in anticipation of the judge’s entry into the courtroom for the start of the day’s proceedings, the court clerk announced, “The judge won’t be sitting. You may bring your diaries and take a new date.”

This has become the norm rather than the exception in Nigeria’s judicial system. Both senior and junior lawyers and litigants are not impressed with the situation.

Lawyers have criticised the lack of mainstreaming of e-communication in Nigeria’s judiciary as seen in other foreign jurisdictions. E-courts require centralised electronic filing, digitisation of document management system, creation of e-filing and e-payment gateways, as well as the use of hardware and software in the disposal of cases. They believe that with time, physical appearance in courtrooms when there is no serious business can be done away with.

Jibrin Okutepa (SAN) said there was need to address a “disturbing phenomenon”, which was now rampant in legal practice in Nigeria.

“If you are purely in private legal practice, you see so many things that can get you upset. You may travel for seven hours on the road only to be told that court is not sitting. Why can’t we have a system through which lawyers can be informed two days before hand that a court will be sitting or not? Why should a lawyer travel from Abuja to Akure or Ibadan or Enugu or such other places and be told that court is not sitting, particularly the Court of Appeal?” he querried.

“The Supreme Court of Nigeria has never failed to sit except in most unlikely circumstances. Why shouldn’t courts below the Supreme Court emulate it? It pisses me off when lawyers travel distances only to be told that court will not be sitting. These are challenges lawyers in private practice face. We need to address this very disturbing phenomenon. It is too rampant in our legal practice for comfort,” he said.

Agreeing with this position, Barr. Hamid Ajibola Jimoh described the situation as “unjust” and showed the unpreparedness of the courts for the business and schedule.

“If not, they would have known their schedules for the day. At least a text message should be sent to lawyers for the postponement of sitting, along with adjourned date, and any lawyer who will not be available on the proposed adjourned date will know what to do,” he said.

“So, the management of the courts need to improve this. Lawyers’ contacts and emails accompany processes filed. The legal mail initiated by the Supreme Court of Nigeria can also be used as a medium of communication to lawyers,” he added.

Barr. Uche Oparaugo bemoaned the retrogression of the court system in Nigeria in which parties were only informed of adjournment at the instance of the courts.

“Parties should know the business of the day 48 hours ahead to enable them prepare well,” he said.

“The large screen displays at the FCT High Court headquarters in Maitama which help litigants and visitors to track cases in the courtrooms are now no longer functional,” he said.

In the same vein, Barr. E.M.D. Umukoro advices that court registrars should get across to parties listed for the day where the court will not be sitting using the electronic systems.

“However, the challenge with this is where the court will not sit and parties are notified, some parties will deliberately refuse to show up to agree on a date so as to punish the plaintiff or claimant who obviously will mobilise for hearing notice,” he noted.

“The middle ground will be, where the court is not sitting, parties will be notified that if they are not in court by 10:00am to take date, date will be given in their absence and the new date sent to them through SMS, email or other electronic means. The question is, who bears the cost?”