A former President, Lagos Court of Arbitration, Yemi Candide-Johnson (SAN) has said corrupt judges who bring the justice system to disrepute must be exposed for the country’s efforts at judicial reforms to be successful.
Candide-Johnson lamented that judicial appointments are often deliberately manipulated; he suggested that public hearings should be held for those aspiring to be so appointed.
He spoke during a webinar titled; “Developing an institutional concept of justice in Nigeria” organised by Wole Olanipekun & Co.
It was sad, he noted, that a judge would “sit and share money.”
Candide-Johnson said: “It is critical that only the most honest and capable candidates are appointed as judges. “Appointment of justice must be clearly established, public hearing must be heard on the candidates to establish their competence and honesty.
“We can have candidates that have demonstrated a proven track record for the defence of human rights. The lifestyle, finance, personal behaviour of all sitting judges should be subjected to scrutiny.
“A lifestyle audit is for us to find out where the money to sustain the lifestyle is coming from. Every tax authority knows how much a judge earns and all banks have the BVN of all judges, so it should be easy to find out who is corrupt”.
He noted that while judges may continue to do their honest best under excruciating conditions, “justice can be compromised when a judge is inherently corrupt.
“A judge that is taking any kind of bribe cannot be independent and fair, noting that the obsession with technicality subverts the points of law.”
He stated that corruption unveils itself in the abuse of ex parte orders and acceptance of gifts from lawyers and litigants adding, that “a judge cannot be impartial if he accepts gifts from lawyers and litigants.”
Partner Hardwicke and Professional Commissioner Judicial Appointments Commission, United Kingdom, Brie Stevens-Hoares (QC), in her submission, said “self-assessments, independent assessment and qualifying tests online and competency based interview are parts of the tools employed to demonstrate competence and skills in the UK system.”
She listed the criteria that guides judicial appointments in the United Kingdom (UK) to include: “Leadership, exercising judgment, assimilating and clarifying information, possessing and building knowledge, managing work efficiently and communicating with others in the quest for better justice system”
According to her, “infractions are dealt with in strictest terms. No system is perfect and good system is not pulled off trees. We keep reviewing and keep changing what we can change and also improve on the things we can improve upon”.
Oditah (QC, SAN) said the nation’s justice system is far from the ideals, pointing out that COVID-19 has exacerbated the problem of justice administration system in Nigeria.
“We are part of the global system and for investments to thrive, our justice system must be efficient, if not, we will lose credibility”, he said adding, “a good criminal justice system do not fall from trees.
“They are results of efforts by the government and stakeholders.”
Oditah noted the challenges besetting the justice system in the country and listed them to include: “insufficient institutional capacity, inadequate funding, poor attitude of the stakeholders in justice administrative (judges, lawyers and litigants).
He described what is happening in the courts as catastrophic and heckling, noting that “one problem leads to other problems”.
He opined that the Supreme Court alone cannot lay claim to understanding all the logic.
“Some judges take a self-destructive approach and some principal actors bring our justice system into disrepute.
“Imagine a senior lawyer saying the Nigerian legal system does not recognize arbitration because it is not a public hearing’ court. Registries are in such a disorder. Very tardy operators of the rule of law show us as incapable of organizing our justice system”, he further noted.
Oditah listed factors needed to get the justice system right to include “the existence of rule of law, quality of institutional capacity (quality of the judges, registries and staffs), how judges are appointed and promoted is very important in ensuring a virile justice system, judges must be competent and knowledgeable, the courts must be adequately funded.”
The moderator, Bode Olanipekun (SAN) said WOC, having built relationships that are now being leveraged upon, decided to put up the virtual summit as part of their contributions “towards the building, not only a lasting justice institution for Nigeria but also one that satisfactorily adapts to the ever-changing needs and expectations of citizens anchored on consistent and acceptable principles”
Olanipekun said the summit will be a yearly event that will be geared towards a continuous building of a lasting justice institution for Nigeria and also one that will satisfactorily adapt to the evever-changingeeds and expectations of citizens anchored on consistent and acceptable principles.
