I have read the letter of Chief Bolaji Ayorinde, SAN to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad wherein he prayed the CJN to “kindly direct a suspension of the 2021 Annual Judges Vacation in order to save our justice system.”
I need to say up front that I have the highest regard for Chief Ayorinde as an Elder Statesman and one of the leaders of the legal profession. However, I beg to disagree with his position in the letter to the CJN.
In the letter, Chief Ayorinde cited the #ENDSARS Protests, coronavirus pandemic and the recent JUSUN Strike as events that adversely impacted the justice sector. The justice sector was not the only sector impacted by all events cited by the learned silk and I beg to disagree that the suspension of Judges Vacation is the decision to take to ameliorate the effects of those events.
The first ground of my disagreement is simple and direct. The issue of Judges vacation in Nigeria is an issue of law and in essence, what the learned silk seeks to have the CJN do is to suspend the law.
The rules of court of most courts of record if not all of them provides for Judges Vacation. It is not just a tradition or something that is subject of the whims of the CJN.
Is the learned silk saying that Order 46 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019 and various similar provisions of rules of court of various courts of record should be suspended by the CJN on account of the issues he highlighted in his letter?
I need not cite judicial authorities on the purport of the rules of court; there is an avalanche of judicial authorities that establish that rules of court are not made for the fun of making them and ought to be obeyed needless to say the enabling statutes of various courts of records.
The second ground of my disagreement with the learned silk is that I really doubt whether any of the Judges went to sleep or went on vacation. I have an idea of the work load of some of them. I could say confidently that most of them would probably take the strike season to write rulings, judgments and carry out researches. I am of the opinion that none of them was in vacation mode whlie the Judicial Workers Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) strike lasted. They probably shared the burden of the emotional trauma with every other stakeholders in the industry.
Chief Ayorinde further wrote, “It is a well-known and acknowledged fact that, our Judges are hardworking and patriotic Nigerians and as such and in view of the highlighted circumstances that had paralyzed judicial activities across Nigeria, there is a glaring opportunity for the Judiciary to make a bold statement to rekindle the hope of the common man, as well as, renew investors’ confidence in Nigeria as an investment destination. I therefore most humbly accordingly, urge Your Lordship and all other heads of Courts in Nigeria to in the interest of persons who are languishing in detention and awaiting trial and those that their cases have suffered inordinate delay due to extraneous factors aforementioned, kindly direct a suspension of the 2021 Annual Judges Vacation in order to save our justice system.
“My Lord, such a direction will no doubt portray the Judiciary as a most responsive institution and third arm of government that is the last hope of the common man. Such a direction will also definitely and substantially clear most of the backlog of cases which have suffered delays in our Courts thereby making our Courts ‘fit for the purpose’ again.”
The bold statement that would be made by the judiciary to rekindle the hope of the common man, I beg to submit, is far more radical and deeper than the suspension of Judges Vacation. What do we do about back log cases of yester years at the supreme Court, the autonomy of the judiciary, the deployment of technology, welfare of judicial staff and many more other issues that has to be dealt with?
I beg the CJN to just let the judges be and tackle the real issues that will “rekindle the hope of the common man.” To suspend the Judges Vacation as panacea to the supposed “lost hope of the common man” is at best treating the symptoms summarily and not the ailment.
Prince A.S. Abimbola, Ologun Abire I of Opada Town, Egbe City, Yagba West LGA, Kogi State is a legal practitioner based in Lagos.
