New lawyers forum to address shutdown of some courts, seek judiciary reform

Some Nigerians lawyers have formed a forum to address the shutdown of courts in some parts of the country and far-reaching reforms of the Nigerian judiciary.

They called the new group Joint Lawyers Forum of Nigeria (JLFRN), whose membership is open to all qualified legal practitioners.

Conveners of the forum are Yemi Abiona and Ayodele Ademiluyi.

A press statement by the forum’s secretary, Karounwi Sikiru, on Saturday, said the association was established in response to the judiciary’s struggles, particularly the inability to hold sittings in the South-east and North-east, especially Borno State, due to the insecurity in both regions.

“Two Divisions of the Court of Appeal in the South-east of Nigeria have not been sitting due to the worsening security situation in that part of the country. This means litigants who want to go on appeal have been denied for months of that opportunity, including potential criminal appellants who are in custody,” the statement reads in part.

“In faraway Northeast Nigeria, the Court of Appeal, Gombe Division, have to alternate her sittings between Gombe and Borno States in order to afford appellants, who are further afield in Borno State to enjoy the benefit of having their appeals heard.”

Furthermore, the group decried the delay in divisions, particularly the Lagos division, and the insufficient number of judges, which led to a delay in justice.

The forum called for a joint effort by lawyers to push for an amendment of the Nigerian constitution to create zonal divisions of the Supreme Court across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

The forum’s proposed constitution amendment also seeks an expansion of both the Court of Appeal, the Federal High Court and the National Industrial Court to meet up with the volume of litigations across the country.

They also called for the enforcement of judicial independence as well as improvements in the facilities, divisions and number of judges in all Federal High Courts.

The forum, which seeks the creation of more branches of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), plans to meet with fora of lawyers seeking to be recognised as NBA branches across Nigeria. According to this forum, the move would help to bring more lawyers on board to push for the much needed reform of the Nigerian judiciary.

The Nigerian legal system faces myriads of challenges, including low level accountability, accounting for the rampant acts of impunity in the bar and on the bench, delays of cases in court, perverse court decisions, corruption across the hierarchies of the institutions, among others. All of these have summed up to plunge the judiciary in a deep confidence crisis, arming some citizens with excuses to take the law into their hands.