The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Tanko Muhammad, on Tuesday called on judges and lawyers to go on individual self-cleansing and do everything within possible to rid the law profession of bad eggs.
The CJN added that judges cannot take the lead with issuance of reckless ex-parte orders while lawyers too cannot take the lead with filing of frivolous suits and forum shopping.
The CJN made the statement in Abuja while inaugurating Justice Hussein Baba Yusuf as the substantive Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) judiciary.
“An occasion like this may be auspicious for self-assessment. It is by coincidence that this event comes at a time the Nigerian Bar Association is holding its 61st Annual General Conference tagged: ‘Taking the Lead’.
“The legal profession should indeed take the lead in all human affairs. However, the lead is at a price. We cannot take the lead when our courts issue ex-parte orders recklessly. We cannot take the lead when many litigants with support of their counsel engage in forum shopping.
“We cannot take the lead when counsel files a case before a court that they know lacks jurisdiction and the judge proceeds to hear the case. We cannot take the lead when counsel files frivolous cases in our courts just for nuisance value or to buy time.
“Administration of justice is the bedrock of not only democratic or civilized societies, but it also extends beyond the borders of civilized nations. No society can afford to discard administration of justice.
“There is no regime in any country that can operate without a judiciary. No matter how primitive a society is, it must have its own mechanism for resolution of its disputes. Otherwise, that society will drift into anarchy, self-destruction and extinction.
“We must not only do self-assessment, we also need self-cleansing. All hands must, therefore, be on deck from both the Bar and the Bench to rid the legal profession of bad eggs,” the CJN said.
(New Telegraph)
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