1 December 2008
analysis
Lagos — As a veritable third arm of government essentially charged with the dispensation of justice, the judiciary plays an indispensable pivotal role in the sustenance of democratic governance in Nigeria. Democracy without the rule of law cannot facilitate democratic dividend. An impotent judiciary is a gateway for anarchy and retrogression.
That is why the warning of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, at the Nigeria Judges' Conference of Lower Courts held recently at the National Judicial Institute, Abuja, that judicial officers who abuse their powers in the dispensation of justice and application of the law would be sanctioned, merits a deeper consideration.
Chief Justice Kutigi's warning could not have come at a more appropriate time than now when the use of ex-parte orders and injunctions are frequently abused in some states of the federation. It is also coming at a trying time in the history of our country, when we are experiencing a deep crisis in the rule of law. The function of the judiciary as a dispenser of justice, facilitator of good governance and a bulwark of justice in the cause of the citizenry is endangered by the growing incidence of subversion of justice by our judges. More importantly, our democratization experiment will be aborted if our judges compromise their role as unbiased umpires in the dispensation of justice.
It is in this context that Chief Justice Kutigi's warning is a wake-up call on our judges to adorn the breastplate of integrity, transparency, discipline, impartiality and honour in the discharge of their duty. Our judiciary has been turned into an object of derision by the very people who should labour to maintain its prestige. The level of official corruption and moral degeneracy in the Bar and the Bench is alarming. In recent times we have seen decency thrown over-board in open court; we have seen justice put out for sale; we have seen frequent abuses of court processes; injustice meted out to punish perceived enemies; allegation of impropriety openly tabled against members of the Bar and the Bench. To be sure, nothing destroys the confidence of the public in the judiciary than these abuses.
The function of law as instrument of social engineering is made difficult by the corruption of judges. Therefore, like Caesar's wife, our judges should learn to live above board. They should desist from anything which robs the judiciary of its impartiality, fairness and independence. But this warning is not only to the judges but also for our judicial personnel - bailiffs, court clerks and registrars, court messengers, court typists etc - who equally play a very important role in the dispensation of justice. For refusing to accede to their extortionist bid, many court litigants have been frustrated by judicial personnel. This is sad, very sad indeed. Administrative injustice begets legal injustice.
Therefore, in heeding Chief Justice Kutigi's warning, the National Judicial Council (NJC) should leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the Nigerian judiciary is pruned of corrupt judicial officers no matter whose ox is gored. Let the axe fall on corrupt judges and corrupt judicial personnel. Only an incorruptible and irreproachable judge will redeem the law. The recent Court of Appeal verdict proclaiming Adams Oshiomhole as Edo State governor has shown that only a vibrant, fearless, courageous and independent judiciary will rekindle the confidence of the people in our the third arm of government.
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