By Ebere Agozie

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), JB Daudu, has said some of the judicial proposals submitted to the National Assembly for review lack utilitarian values.

Daudu made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja.

“One of those proposals is the judicial resignation and succession protocol that regulates resignation procedures for Justices and Judges to avoid abrupt and destabilising departures.

“This is a typical example of institutional idleness.

”How can these transfer mechanisms be observed in the event of sudden death, resignation as a result of grave illness or even sudden resignation as a result of compelling personal reasons?

“Such eventualities and their after effect cannot be regulated upon,’’ the learned silk added.

He argued that the proponents of the amendment lost sight of the fact that the courts are courts of records, and that it is not the Chief Judge or any other Head of Court that is the record keeper.

“Indeed, the records are kept by the chief registrar and his coterie of registrars and clerks, who are civil servants and are permanent features in the establishment’’.

He said that another wild goose chase proposal was that there should be mandatory National Judicial Council (NJC) investigations before the removal of heads of court.

“It is thought that there is a problem with the provisions of Section 292(1)(a)(i) &(ii) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which forbids the removal of judicial officers, especially heads of court, by Governors and Houses of Assembly without recourse first and foremost to NJC investigation.

“This proposal, it is thought, will institutionalize fair hearing rights, ensure due process, and insulate judicial officers from arbitrary removal.’’

He noted that the proposal was the most curious of the proposed amendments as it does not introduce any new position to the state of affairs.

“This is because Section 292(1)(a)(i) & (iì) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) already requires the input of the NJC before a head of court can be removed.

“The solution to acts of executive recklessness and lawlessness of attempts by governors to remove sitting chief judges is not because the present constitution does not forbid it.

“It is because of the attitudinal disposition of some governors to power.

”We will always have people who in their power drunkenness will interpret the constitution in ways and manner which suits their ego or political calculations.

“Consequently, amending the constitution in the manner suggested will not serve any useful purpose,’’ he added.

On the suggestion that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) should have an input in the removal of Judges, Daudu submitted that that proposal is a non-starter.

“It has already failed. This is because the only amendment needed is to allow the five members nominated by the NBA to participate in matters relating to the discipline of Judges.

“I have for years advocated for the removal of the provision in the constitution that limits lawyers from participating in the removal of judicial officers.“

He also frowned on any hindrances to judicial continuity and stability.

The proposal in this regard seeks to empower newly elevated judges to conclude part-heard criminal matters rather than starting afresh, thereby saving judicial time and avoiding injustice.

“The proposal ignores the practical realities, and the injustice associated with a judge who has left the services of a court and has taken the oath of office of another court hierarchy to return to the court he had been elevated from.

“It is submitted that no amount of constitutional amendment will cure that abnormality and aberration.

“It is better to defer the swearing in of an appointed or promoted judge until when he has completed all his part-heard matters than to cause such a judicial personnel to return to a court that he has exited from.

“No one seems to consider the psyche of all the parties concerned, no matter how it is couched.’’

He said that a constitution is a very document that should lay out the basic and indeed, fundamental rules for the governance of the country.

“It is not a factory manual on work and safety regulations. Our legislators should accord the constitution more seriousness than they are presently doing,’’ he said. (NAN)

Edited by Sadiya Hamza