PROTOCOLS

1. I am grateful to My Lord, the Honourable, the Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Honourable Justice Husseini Baba-Yusuf, for the invitation extended to me to be part of this ceremony. I am delighted at the opportunity and privilege to address this august court session for which I am grateful to My Lord and to God Almighty. I am particularly humbled by the fact that I am the first member of the NBA Abuja Branch- the Unity Bar to become the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, and the first to address a Court session of this nature in this capacity. I appreciate the grace and favour of God upon my life that made this possible and I give Him all the glory.

• The new legal year ceremony is a practice in many common law jurisdictions all over the world. It dates back to about 1897 England, when judges, in the new year celebrations, would adorn their ceremonial attire and take a two-mile walk from Temple Bar to Westminster Abbey for a solemn assembly to seek divine guidance and strength for the new year. This is quite instructive – Judges are representatives of God on earth and need to be constantly reminded of this fact. This ceremony serves the additional purpose of bringing the judges closer to laymen and afford both the opportunity to observe each other in a semi-formal setting.

• The ceremony is also a time for stock-taking; today we listen to the Chief Judge apprise the Bar, as well as the public, of the activities of the court in the previous legal year; the challenges, achievements, and the agenda for the new legal year. The Bar is particularly interested in these because, it provides the necessary enlightenment that will foster understanding in our interactions with the Court in the coming year and beyond.

• May I, respectfully, on behalf of the Nigerian Bar Association, most warmly welcome Your Lordships back from a well-deserved rest and vacation. On the same note, I commend the Vacation Judges who dutifully held the fort; hearing and determining cases that required urgent judicial intervention and ensured that the wheels of justice were not halted nor slowed down while the Court was on vacation.

• The Federal Capital Territory, High Court has contributed immensely to the administration of Justice and the development of the law in Nigeria. Several Judges of this Court have been elevated to the appellate Court bench and have continuously done us proud. We look forward to many more of such appointments as the bench of the FCT continues with its giant strides and display of excellence in the business of the administration of justice. Needless to say that the current President of the Court of Appeal is a product of this Court.

• Delayed proceedings are perhaps chief among the complaints of counsel, litigants, and the public. This has created a poor perception of the courts and eroded the public’s confidence in our justice delivery system. In every election cycle, electoral matters are known to flood the State and Federal High Courts, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. At such times, the lamentations are not just that civil matters, commercial disputes, and even criminal cases are delayed, but that they are almost neglected. Such matters remain in court for years, sometimes decades, while election matters, which are known to be time-bound, are treated with dispatch. Pre- and post-election disputes are now almost the only instance where speedy disposal of cases is seen and experienced in Nigeria.

• This Court has always been known to stay away from controversies surrounding electoral matters; granting of exparte orders in matters that should not be entertained by the Court at all. While I commend the Court for this discipline, I must also appreciate our colleagues of the bar who have not found it enticing to accept such briefs that will make us tempt your Lordships to make such embarrassing orders. While we appreciate the difficulties under which your Lordships work and your steadfastness in the discharge of your constitutional responsibilities, I call on your Lordships to do more in terms of quick disposal of cases in order to continue to command the respect and the confidence of the public in the administration of Justice, as justice delayed is justice denied.

• Another vital element which sustains the confidence of the public in the justice system, is the ability of the Court to make its judgment readily available.

• Lord Neuberger, a former Chief Justice of the UK Supreme Court, delivering the first Bailii Lecture in 1992 identified judgment–dissemination, as an essential ingredient of access to justice. For justice to be seen to have been done, judgments given in open court must be accessible in two senses: they must be clearly written so that a reasonably well-informed member of the public can understand what is being decided, then they must be available to the public. In the latter sense, accessibility depends on the judgement being reported.

1. Availability of judgments is very important. Oliver Wendell Holmes posited, the Law is “the prophecies of what the court will do in fact and nothing more pretentious”. Thus, availability of the judgements of this court at the click of the button, helps lawyers and litigants to know and be properly advised at any given point regarding what “the law” is on labour and employment matters. This helps a great deal in the development of the law and precedent.

1. I have deliberately dwelt on this point because of the importance of justice delivery in a functional sense to the realisation of the country of our dream. No nation is built without justice, and members of the legal profession, whether functioning on the Bench or at the Bar, must ensure that Justice is dispensed transparently, with integrity, speed, and circumspection. 

1. The former Chief Judge of the United States District of Columbia in her address to the Bar Association of St. Louis titled Law and the Layman, said:

“There should be two cardinal objectives of Courts in a democracy. One is obvious: Courts must accomplish justice. The second [which is] often neglected is: Courts must convince those whom they serve that justice is being accomplished.” (Underlined for emphasis only)

1. My Lords, a situation where parties and their Counsel struggle to obtain records of proceedings or copies of the judgment, weeks or even months after a judgment is delivered, either to enforce or appeal the same, is a negation of the duty of the Court to convince the public that justice was indeed accomplished upon delivery of the Judgment. Allegations of tampering with judgments after delivery, spurious as they may be, can gain some attention when copies thereof are not made available at least to the parties immediately after delivery as prescribed by the Constitution. I am aware of situations where records of appeal could not be compiled several months after judgments were delivered, because copies of the judgments delivered were not made available to the appeal registry by the judges. 

1. My Lords, I have from my experience in court for over 3 decades now, come to the understanding that the legal profession has not fared well in providing the desired leadership in Nigeria because of what I have noted as an artificial demarcation between the Bench and Bar. Our perceived differences, for they are not real, have literarily and to a great extent, pitched the Bar against the Bench and vice versa. It appeared and still does, as though the Bar and Bench are in competition with each other; with each one trying to outwit the other. This has militated against the proper functioning of the legal profession and has shifted our focus from our primary call as organs of the person of Justice. In my address at the Valedictory Court session in honour of Hon. Justice Aboki, JSC, I observed thus:

“Both the Bench and Bar originate from JUSTICE, and it is in the person of JUSTICE, that we find the Bench and the Bar performing their functions. In the discharge of our functions as members of this body, whatever appears adverse to the interest of JUSTICE should be fought jointly by the Bench and the Bar, who properly understood must as a natural tendency, have symphony, harmony. They are concerted against any external force or influence which contends with the thresholds set by JUSTICE and they always resolve disputes to meet the demand of JUSTICE.

An understanding of this relationship will see members of the Bar conduct themselves with decorum, respect and candour, while performing their roles before the members of the Bench. The Bar will not abuse the Bench; it will not collude with “strangers” to harass and disparage the Bench and will not rejoice over any ordeal that befalls the Bench. Rather, the Bar will be protective of the Bench and will not conspire with aliens to wreak havoc on the Institution of JUSTICE. While we must not and should not condone the practice of corruption in any form or guise, an understanding of our identity, will see us approach matters differently. It is not unusual that the few challenges that we already identified would rear their heads sometimes. When they do, we must use established channels to settle the issues without smearing the image of the hardworking members of the Nigerian Judiciary who toil to dispense justice in very difficult conditions. I will continue as President of the Nigerian Bar Association to champion the need for this harmony between the Bar and the Bench.”

1. At the official commissioning of the Body of Benchers Complex held on the 29 September 2022, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, President, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, referred to the efforts being made by the Body of Benchers on the welfare of judicial officers in the country. His Excellency, the President then said: May I restate my commitment towards this ideal. In similar vein, I have been intimated of the engagement of Consultants by the Body, through its Judiciary Advisory Committee, to amongst other things, come up with a peer review of the conditions of service of Judicial Officers in Nigeria with other countries and jurisdictions, within and outside Africa. I earnestly look forward to the completion of this peer review and the submission of recommendations, as this will assist us in review of the welfare packages.” The above statement coming from no other than His Excellency, the President himself is very comforting.

1. I have listened to the Honourable Attorney of the Federation and Minister for Justice, in at least two different fora, make the call on the Judiciary to open its books for accounting purposes as, according to the Honourable AGF, it is the only way the executive will know exactly what the Judiciary does with its present budgetary provisions and ascertain the claim that the funding of the Judiciary is scanty or insufficient. Apparently, this call is being made to assist the executive in its acclaimed efforts to come up with better welfare package for judicial officers.

1. Let me say that the insistence by the Honourable Attorney General that, the Judiciary should open its books, as stated above should not be ignored. Even though all federal courts have auditors from the office of the Auditor General of the Federation who are officers of the Executive, and if despite this, the books of the Judiciary are said not to be open for scrutiny, the Bar under my leadership supports the call for the Judiciary to open its books. In addition to assisting the Executive in working out the desired upward review, this is one way we can engender public confidence in the discharge of our responsibilities to the cause of justice. I will, in addition to the efforts being made by all the relevant stakeholders, engage the Attorney General of the Federation with the view to expediting any or all actions required to come up with a befitting welfare package for all judicial officers in Nigeria.

1. I will in this process also commend to my Learned Brother Silk, the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation, the 2018 Report of the Committee on Review of Judicial Remuneration and Conditions of Service, which made extensive recommendations for improving the welfare of judicial officers. Of course, like I said previously, the review done in 2018 can only serve as a guide as the figures therein will not meet the justice of the current economic realities.

1. On the appointment of Judges to the bench of this Court, may I with respect observe that what has strengthened this Court over time is the blend of the appointments made, where members of the bar were given due consideration in the appointment to this Court. This seem to be in the decline, and I call on your Lordship, the Honourable, the Chief Judge, to consider very seriously, the appointment of more suitable and qualified members of the private bar to the bench of this Court.

• I wish to thank your Lordships for the steadfast devotion to duty through these years despite the poor working condition My Lords have had to endure. It is testimony to the fact that Your Lordships understand the revered office to which Your Lordships have been called and the sacred duty thereof, which is primarily to justice. The Bar appreciates Your Lordships and prays for perseverance, even as we await a positive change in no distant time.

• Finally, as Your Lordships prepare for the challenges of the new legal year, we pray for sound health, divine strength, wisdom from God and the necessary wherewithal with which to carry out the task of justice delivery, effectively and efficiently. And may the good Lord continue to bless Your Lordships.

• I thank everyone present for listening and I wish you all the very best of the new legal year.

• May My Lords be pleased.

Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau (SAN)

President, Nigerian Bar Association