Misleading the public

On March 9, 2014, around 7 p.m., I stormed upon a Nigerian soap opera titled ‘Tales of Eve, Caged’ on African Independent Television, popularly called AIT, where a lawyer (I think she was called Barrister Adelotu) met with an inmate in prison custody and explained to the inmate that she was her legal representative and […]

On March 9, 2014, around 7 p.m., I stormed upon a Nigerian soap opera titled ‘Tales of Eve, Caged’ on African Independent Television, popularly called AIT, where a lawyer (I think she was called Barrister Adelotu) met with an inmate in prison custody and explained to the inmate that she was her legal representative and due to the fact that the inmate had been in prison custody for up to three years awaiting trial for murder charge, she could secure her release. On hearing this and believing the lawyer to be her legal representative she opened up about everything involving the case.
The next day at the State High Court, Lagos Judicial Division holden at Yaba, the lawyer i.e Barrister Adelotu announced appearance as a counsel from the Ministry of Justice representing the Prosecutor to the surprise of both the inmate (accused) and viewers. She then applied to the court for summary judgment on the basis that she had gotten a sworn confession from the accused, the counsel on the other side objected on the ground that she was not familiar with the case as she is holding brief for a learned senior. The court reprimanded her for such an excuse and asked the accused if she signed the said confessional affidavit.  The accused was still in a state of shock when the court took a recess for counsels to give final address on the summary judgement, then the episode ended. The next thing, my mom asked me if this is the practice in the Nigerian legal system.
Foreign soap operas that have any relationship with law, be it Boston Legal, Suits, Law and Order, Ally Mcbeal, Fairly Legal etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, try to ensure that what they  show  viewers worldwide is a replica or close to what is actually being practised in their legal system and they succeed by paying attention to details. Not in my beloved country, Nigeria!
To start with, superior courts of record like High Court in the instant case do not have  summary trials for capital offenses, it is trite that even if the accused person pleads guilty to a capital offense, the courts would still conduct a full trial for the prosecutor to prove beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of the accused, so the application for summary judgment in a capital offense like murder as shown in ‘Tales of Eve’ is not only Absurd but unheard off in the Nigerian legal system.
By the provision of Section 28 of the Evidence Act (2011) as amended, “A confession made by an accused person is irrelevant in a criminal proceeding, if the making of the confession appears to the court to have been caused by any inducement, threat or promise having reference to the charge against the accused person, proceeding from a person in authority and sufficient, in the opinion of the court, to give the accused person grounds which would appear to him reasonable for supposing that by making it he would gain any advantage or avoid any evil of a temporal nature.”
The confessional statement sought to be tendered by Barrister Adelotu in our soap opera has already failed the test of voluntariness and the court is saddled with the responsibility to look into the circumstances under which the confessional statement was made before admitting it into evidence. The counsel on the other side ought to object on the ground that the confession sought to be tendered is involuntary and where service has already been effected, a counter-affidavit ought to have been filed by the accused counsel. It is not in doubt that where a confessional statement satisfies all the requirement of law on confessions and is admitted in evidence, it discharges the burden on the prosecution to secure a conviction – it must first satisfy all the requirement of the law.
To make matters worse, three of the lawyers sitting at the Bar when the case was going on in our ‘Tales of Eve, Caged’ didn’t wear wig.  This is an affront on courtroom  decorum observed by all lawyers in the legal profession, and viewers who don’t have access to lawyers to cross check these facts would believe that this is how legal practice is done in Nigeria.
These principles of law violated by ‘Tales of Eve, Caged’ as shown on Sunday’s episode is basic knowledge to 90% of young lawyers that practise in Nigerian jurisdiction. Our film directors need to start paying attention to details, get the services of a young lawyer if the services of a senior lawyer would be expensive to put you through on issues concerning law.  If possible let the young lawyer be on set while filming the said scene to ensure that the film portrays a close imitation of what truly goes on in the legal system.
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