Corruption turning Nigerian courts to ‘market stalls’ – Retired Justice Augie – Daily Trust

A retired justice of the Supreme Court, Amina Adamu Augie, has warned that corruption inside Nigeria’s judiciary and authorized career is eroding public confidence within the administration of justice and reworking the courts from establishments of impartiality into what she described as “market stalls.”

Speaking in Abuja through the fortieth anniversary celebration of the Nigerian Law School Class of 1986, popularly often called the Centennial Class, Augie stated corrupt practices involving judges, attorneys and court docket officers had weakened the credibility of the justice system and broken the general public’s notion of the authorized career.

The retired justice referred to as for practitioners discovered responsible of misconduct to be punished, no matter their seniority, affect or skilled standing.

Augie, who taught on the Nigerian Law School earlier than starting her judicial profession, recognized corruption, political interference, insufficient funding and delays within the administration of justice as among the most severe challenges going through Nigeria’s judiciary.

“The third, which I will not dress up, is corruption. Where it exists on the Bench, at the Bar, or in the Registry, it poisons everything by turning the one place that a citizen should find impartiality into one more market stall,” she stated.

She however cautioned in opposition to the blanket condemnation of the judiciary, stressing that almost all of judges and attorneys remained trustworthy, hardworking and poorly remunerated.

According to her, the justice system should be designed in a method that protects judicial officers and different authorized practitioners from undue strain and temptation, reasonably than exposing them to situations that make misconduct simpler.

Augie expressed explicit concern in regards to the conduct of some senior members of the authorized career, saying their actions had contributed considerably to the decline in public belief within the courts and the broader justice system.

“Have we kept faith with them? In part, YES, in part, NO. Public trust has paid the price. The public today is quick to believe the worst of lawyers, and sorry to say, not always without cause,” she stated.

“When a few senior members of the profession have been found to traffic in the corruption of justice, the damage is not to them alone; it stains the gown we all wear.”

She stated rebuilding confidence within the authorized system would require greater than public relations campaigns or efforts to enhance the picture of the judiciary. In her view, the career should show a willingness to self-discipline its members overtly and pretty, with out being intimidated by their standing.

“Restoring that trust is not a matter of better public relations. It is a matter of conduct and a profession willing to discipline its own, without fear or favor, no matter how senior the offender may be in the legal profession,” she stated.

The retired justice reminded attorneys that their foremost obligation was to the court docket and the administration of justice, not merely to the purchasers who retained them. She stated skilled accountability demanded honesty, candour, respect for judicial authority and dedication to the rule of regulation.

Augie urged attorneys to reject makes an attempt to manipulate court docket proceedings, manufacture or distort proof, delay circumstances unnecessarily or safe beneficial judgments by improper affect.

She additionally warned that corruption couldn’t be addressed in isolation from the broader situations beneath which the judiciary operates. Inadequate funding, she stated, posed a severe menace to judicial independence as a result of a court docket that relied on the chief for primary infrastructure and operational wants couldn’t be considered fully autonomous.

“A Judiciary that must beg the executive for a Courtroom roof, vehicles, or even the Judges’ entitlements is not fully free; financial autonomy for the Courts is not a perk for Justices and Judges, but a guarantee for litigants,” she stated.

Augie additional criticised the delays and excessive prices that proceed to make litigation inaccessible to many Nigerians. She described delay because the “chronic disease” of the nation’s justice system and stated it had weakened public confidence within the courts.

Drawing on her expertise on the Supreme Court, she stated the apex court docket was burdened by an extreme variety of appeals, together with disputes that ought to ordinarily have been resolved at decrease ranges of the judicial system.

She recalled an attraction regarding the burning of 12 goats that finally reached the Supreme Court, regardless of the large workload already confronting the court docket.

According to her, constitutional amendments have been wanted to slim the classes of circumstances that may very well be taken to the apex court docket. Such reforms, she stated, would allow Supreme Court justices to concentrate on issues involving important constitutional, authorized and nationwide questions.

Augie additionally condemned the repeated failure of presidency authorities to adjust to court docket orders. She cited the extended detention of former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki and Islamic Movement chief Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, regardless of judicial directives ordering their launch.

She stated the disobedience of court docket orders by public officers weakened the authority of the judiciary and despatched a harmful message that compliance with the regulation was non-obligatory for these in energy.

Reflecting on the event of Nigeria’s justice system over the previous 4 a long time, Augie acknowledged that progress had been made, significantly for the reason that nation’s return to democratic rule in 1999. However, she expressed disappointment that justice remained gradual, costly and past the attain of many voters.

She referred to Nigeria’s rating of a hundred and twentieth out of 143 international locations within the 2025 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, describing the place as an uncomfortable indication of the nation’s institutional weaknesses and the persevering with challenges going through its justice system.

Augie referred to as for complete reforms to strengthen judicial independence, enhance entry to justice, modernise case administration, scale back delays and restore moral requirements throughout the authorized career.

She urged members of the Class of 1986, a lot of whom now maintain senior positions within the judiciary, authorities and authorized career, to use their affect to defend the rule of regulation and rebuild public confidence within the courts.

“If Governments obey the Courts, if its Judgments are enforced, if justice comes within a reasonable time and within reach of the poor, if the profession upholds its integrity and disciplines its own, Nigeria would be better positioned to secure its future”, she stated.