NIGERIA JUDICIAL
SYSTEM, PROBLEM AND THE WAY OUT
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The
Judiciary arm of government is responsible for interpreting the law of the
land, while applying it in situations where they are necessary; this makes the
job of the Judiciary a very critical one. The law of the land constitutes the
bases upon which judgments are ruled; it is therefore fundamental that its
interpretation and application be carried out with absolute alacrity and
meticulousness (Chambers, 2005). The Nigerian Judicial System comprises of ‘the
Body of Benchers’ and ‘the Bar’ itself. The Body of Benchers is a collection of
the highest ranking legal practitioners in the country which is headed by the
Chief Justice of the Federation. It also has as its members the respective
Chief Judges of the States of the Federation and certain very reputable lawyers
in the country, whereas the Bar is a body of all the barristers in the country.
These together constitute the ‘Nigerian Legal Class’. The Nigerian Judicial
System has come a long way, taking its origin from the colonial era. It was
saddled with the responsibility of checking the activities of the Executive and
Legislative arms of government. The Judiciary as a matter of fact, plays a very
vital role in the development of the country considering the fact it is the
mechanism that oversees to the usage and management of power in the country. If
the power that is vested on the Executive and Legislative offices is not
checked, the bulk of the citizenry will have lots of troubles and challenges to
contend with
(Akpuru-Aja, 1999).
The
primary responsibility of the Judiciary is to ensure that the Executive and
Legislative arms of government function within the ambits of the constitutional
provisions made available to them. The Judiciary ought to stand isolated while
performing its constitutional duty. It does not need any interference from the
Executive or Legislature in carrying out its primary assignment. It operates
independent of any external disturbances and functions with the constitutional
power vested in its office. The Nigerian Judicial System has had lots of
challenges to contend with. During the shambolic military era, the Judiciary
was subjected to abject emasculation to the extent that it lost the substance
to its name and only existed as a nomenclatural entity. To say the least, ‘the
Judiciary sank into oblivion’. But with the advent of democracy came an
organized political façade that accorded the Judiciary its rightful place as
the watchdog of the polity. The importance of the Judiciary in any political
system cannot be over-emphasized, hence the constitution provides for its
absolute independence to enable it perform its sacred constitutional function
without sentiments and reservations (Akpuru-Aja, 1999).
Personnel
problems constitute by far the most daunting challenge facing the judiciary and
is the single most important problem threatening the sanctity of the judiciary
as the bastion of justice. The judiciary comprise of judicial officers who are
human beings and therefore subject to the vagaries of human nature in its
insidious form. While there are good, intellectually sound and upright judicial
officers of impeccable character and integrity in Nigeria, it is sad to say
that a sizeable percentage of judicial officers in Nigeria fall below the
standard expected of judicial officers in the area of intellectual capability,
uprightness, character and integrity and this reflects in the poor quality of
judgments delivered by the various courts in Nigeria and the growing problem of
conflicting judgments and the attendant confusion it brings in the legal system
in Nigeria
The
judicial system in Nigeria is beset with several deficiencies in its procedural
set up that make it very difficult to obtain justice and quick resolution of
disputes in courts. Most of the procedural rules of the various courts in
Nigeria are in dire need of reform and review to make it accord with the need
to discard technicalities and uphold substantive justice. A situation where
many cases in Nigerian courts take years to be resolved does not bode well for
the judicial system and encourages resort to self-help by disgruntled
litigants.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
There
is no doubt that the Nigerian judiciary is plagued by a myriad of problems
ranging from institutional to personnel problems, poor facilities to inadequate
financial provisions and procedural to constitutional problems. Previous
researchers that has sought need for solution to the problems suggested that
there is the urgent need for constant training and re-training of judicial
officers in the form of workshops, seminars and symposiums for judges to update
their knowledge and restructuring the appointment process of judicial officers
to ensure that only persons of acceptable intellectual capability, character
and integrity are appointed to the bench. However, the researcher is examining
the Nigerian judicial system with and view of identifying the problems within
and recommending the way out
1.3 OBJECTIVES
OF THE STUDY
The following
are the objectives of this study:
1. To
examine the problems in the Nigerian judicial system.
2. To
identify the way out of problems in the Nigerian judicial system.
3. To
determine the factors encouraging problems in the Nigerian judicial system.
1.4 RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
1. What
are the problems in the Nigerian judicial system?
2. What
is the way out of problems in the Nigerian judicial system?
3. What
are the factors encouraging problems in the Nigerian judicial system?
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE STUDY
The following
are the significance of this study:
1. The
results of this study will educate the general public on the problem in the
Nigerian judicial system with a view of finding a lasting solution to the
problems.
2. This
research will also serve as a resource base to other scholars and researchers
interested in carrying out further research in this field subsequently, if
applied will go to an extent to provide new explanation to the topic.
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This
study will cover all the issues within the Nigerian judicial system and also
cover the approaches that can be used to solve the problem for better delivery.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
1. Financial constraint– Insufficient fund tends to impede the
efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature
or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire
and interview).
2. Time constraint– The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study
with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted
for the research work.
REFERENCES
Akpuru-Aja, A (1999), Nigerian Judiciary. Abakiliki:
Willrose and Appleseed Publishing Company.
Chambers, R. (2005). Ideas for Development. London:
Institute for Development Studies.
Wikipedia (2015): www.wikipedia.com