The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi have called for a reduction in the number of cases that make their way to the Supreme Court.
The CJN and the AGF were of the view the reduction becomes imperative in view of the current workload of the apex court.
They spoke in Abuja on Monday, November 27, at a special court session to mark the Supreme Court’s 2023/2024 legal year and the swearing-in of 58 new Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs).
Justice Ariwoola, who disclosed that the apex court delivered a total of 251 judgments during the 2022/2023 legal year, said Nigerians are too litigious.
He said: “I have made it clear on different occasions that it is not every dispute that must find its way to the court, and it is every matter that must come up to the Supreme Court on appeal.
“Our laws have to be amended to make most appeals end at the Court of Appeal, which is competent, dexterous and well-equipped with the right materials and manpower to adjudicate effectively and resourcefully.”
The CJN acknowledged the current depletion on the bench of the apex court and assured that 11 new Justices would soon the appointed for the court.
He said: “Efforts were made by my predecessor to increase the number, but that was unsuccessful before he left office.
“However, the cheering news is that as soon as I assumed office on the 27th day of June 2022, I immediately got down to work on this urgent and immediate need in particular.
“Though we have not gotten them on board yet, I can convincingly assure the litigant public that within a very short while, the Supreme Court of Nigeria will, for the very first time in its history, get the constitutionally prescribed full complement of 21 Justices.
“That is one of the legacies I have been working assiduously to leave behind as it now seems that the court has been somewhat ‘jinxed’ from meeting its constitutional requirement since that piece of legislation was enacted several years ago.”
The CJN, who stressed the importance of judicial independence in any democracy, said the Judiciary at the sub-national level deserves to be independent.
He added: “We actually expected the independence of the judiciary to be given adequate statutory protection, not just at the Federal level alone but equally at the state level so that they could be seen to be truly and genuinely independent in all ramifications.
“The rule of law, with all its well-understood facets, has been highly questionable since the advent of democratic governance in 1999.
“It is noteworthy that reputation can take a long time to establish but can be dissolved and completely destroyed in an instant, sometimes, inadvertently, though.
“The rule of law and the holistic independence of the judiciary should always be cherished by all.”
Justice Ariwoola, while notice public confidence in the Judiciary was of utmost importance in maintaining societal peace and harmony, urged judges to be upright and always be guided by the law, the oath of office they subscribed to and their conscience.
He added: “The Judiciary, as it is today, is more deserving of public trust and confidence than ever before; and we are poised to reposition it for effective justice delivery to make our beloved country a destination of note in the observance of the rule of law and tenets of Constitutionalism.
“The law remains the law, no matter whose interest is involved. In all we do, as interpreters of the law, we should endeavour to severe the strings of emotion from logic and assumption from fact.
“We should never be overwhelmed by the actions or loud voices of the mob or crowd and now begin to confuse law with sentiment or something else in deciding our cases
“Judges owe the society a great duty of always deciding cases without fear or favour, affection or ill will, friend or foe.
“I wish to honestly assure all judicial officers that if you are discharging your functions as an upright judicial officer by genuinely following the norms, then you have no cause to be afraid or feel intimidated by the often frivolous complaints or vitriolic attacks made by persons having vested interest.”
On the performance of the Supreme Court in the last legal year, the CJN said 1,271 cases, comprising of motions and appeals, were filed at the Apex court between September 12, 2022 and July 11, 2023.
He added: “Out of these, we heard 388 political appeals, 215 criminal appeals, and 464 civil appeals.
“Similarly, the court considered a total number of 49 criminal motions, 153 civil motions, and two political motions.
“Between the 30th day of September 2022 and the 11th day of July 2023, the Supreme Court delivered a total number of 251 judgments.
“Out of these, 125 were political appeals, 81 were civil appeals and 45 were criminal appeals.
“Within the period under review (precisely 10 months’ duration), a total number of 91 Rulings were delivered by the honourable court.”
While congratulating the new SANs, the CJN said: “You must display enormous integrity, self-discipline, and a high standard of advocacy as custodians of justice.”
On his part, the AGF said the huge volume of cases before the Supreme Court makes it necessary for the relevant authorities to evolve ways of reducing cases that go before the apex court.
He said: “The foregoing is no doubt a very concerning situation that must be holistically addressed if we are to get the best of our Supreme Court and indeed their lordships.
“We must begin to develop innovative solutions towards enhancing the working capacity of the Supreme Court, cutting down on the number of appeals that gets to this honourable court, implementing critical judicial reforms, as well as adopting alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.”
Fagbemi urged the National Judicial Council (NJC) to fast-track the ongoing process of appointing more Justices for the apex court.
“I am aware that the process of filling the vacancies for the Justices of the Supreme Court has begun.
“I would however like to use this opportunity to urge the leadership of the National Judicial Council to fast-track the process of achieving a full complement of the Supreme Court and to also concurrently put in place the process of filling the consequential vacancies that will be occasioned at the Court of Appeal to avoid undue delay and minimize disruptions at that level.
“The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR has severally expressed readiness to implement judicial reforms with the cooperation of the judiciary. We, therefore, earnestly await the Judiciary to set the ball rolling to enable the other arms to play their part in this critical aspect of nation-building.”
Fagbemi cautioned lawyers against engaging in analysis of cases pending in courts in the media.
He said: “It is fast becoming a sad norm and regrettably so for legal practitioners to appear at television or radio stations discussing pending matters.
“We have also seen lawyers, after the court sitting, discussing on what transpired in the proceedings. You must resist the urge to engage in such practice.
“You must also reject the temptation by media houses inviting you to analyse or discuss pending matters. The doctrine of sub judice enjoins lawyers and even members of the public to refrain from commenting on and discussing cases. You should not be seen breaching this doctrine.”
The AGF urged the new SANs to refrain from engaging in untoward conduct, drew their attention to the provision of Paragraph 26(4) of the 2022 Guidelines for the Conferment of the Rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria and All Matters Pertaining to the Rank, which prohibits the restoration of withheld SAN rank.
“One of the highlights of the new Guidelines is that, unlike the 2018 Guidelines which contain provisions for the discipline of erring holders of the rank and for the restoration of the rank after three years of withdrawal upon the fulfilment of certain conditions, the 2022 Guidelines makes no provision for the restoration of the rank after withdrawal.
“In other words, once the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee, pursuant to the provisions of Paragraph 26(4) of the Guidelines, withdraws the rank from any holder who may have breached the provisions in sub-paragraph (a)-(h), the withdrawal is final and the rank cannot be restored afterward.
“It, therefore, behooves on any Senior Advocate of Nigeria to strive to conduct himself in utmost professional standards and to avoid running foul of the Rules of Professional Misconduct for Legal Practitioners.”