We have quick dispensation of admiralty cases- Auta

You are the chairman of the organising committee of the maritime seminar for judges, are the seminars only for Nigerian judges?We want to have participation of all ECOWAS countries and invite the Chief Justice of Gambia, South Africa, Togo, Malawi and other African countries to come and attend the seminar.  We have been inviting other […]

You are the chairman of the organising committee of the maritime seminar for judges, are the seminars only for Nigerian judges?
We want to have participation of all ECOWAS countries and invite the Chief Justice of Gambia, South Africa, Togo, Malawi and other African countries to come and attend the seminar.  We have been inviting other people who have been coming from Britain and the US, we want to have more and expand it so that we can have more participants.
Judges are already very busy, so how would they be able to cope with the seminar?
It is not all the judges that will attend, if we put all the judges, then we are going to shut down the courts. We get few judges to come but we change the judges that will attend every two years, so that everybody has an opportunity and at the end of the seminar, books are compiled so those who do not have the opportunity to attend the seminar are given the books to read.
Expectations of judges are high when it comes to seminars; to what extent are you prepared to meet their expectations?
I don’t know what you mean by expectations but we are up and doing, our main sponsors the Nigerian Shippers Council and the National Judicial Institute NJI are ever ready to support us logistically and we won’t have any problem, the more the merrier.
I want to extend our gratitude to the Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar for giving us support. My lordship has been attending our seminar and she is now the CJN and has assured us of her support. The Acting PCA has also pleaded to send justices and also to chair some of the session. We also thank the media.
How helpful is  the seminar?
Maritime has to do with ship, simple put maritime of admiralty deals with transactions dealing with ships. It has helped in educating most especially the judges, for the judges to understand admiralty law, so that when such cases come before them they will decide them quickly.  But you see when we are not well exposed to certain things when the case comes before you, you will be grappling in the dark. So it is an eye opener.
In what ways can the seminar affect people who want to invest in the country?
When you deal with admiralty cases quickly, it enhances international confidence. A ship cannot come into the country and lay ideal, even where a ship is parked in one place, it is consuming money.  So they want to come to Nigeria where there is a judiciary so that even if there is any dispute it will be sorted out immediately and they go back and at the rate we are disposing admiralty cases now, many ships are coming and that is more revenue for the country.
Some lawyers have criticized the Performance Evaluation Report for judges, saying that it is of no useful purpose, what is your take?
No I will not say anything on this one because as you know that I am also a member of the NJC.
Are you satisfied with the level of knowledge in maritime law?
Yes I am compared to what we had before, Nigerian judges are internationally acclaimed and they have passed judgments to be reckoned with internationally.  Nigerian judges are at per or even more with their colleagues around the world. So it is good that our judiciary is prepared to key into these developments.