By  MACDONALD ENWERE

 The judiciary is the principle substratum of the trinitarian politics of  modern democracy. It is the sovereign arm and the prototype of the functional state power for the preservation of the moral pillars upon which any society is built. As a beacon of hope for the ordinary citizen, the judiciary also remains the pinnacle and hub of effective governance and democratic functionalism in any egalitarian society. It is an indisputable fact that a transparent and effective judiciary remains an indisputable contrivance for the administration of Justice and also propels functionalism and efficiency in all spheres of the nation’s democratic hemisphere.

Consequently, for the judiciary to carry its noble task of protecting the legitimate rights of the citizens, it must be independent and isolated from undue interference. The idea of independence of the judiciary apart from its original meaning within the theory of the separation of powers which makes it peculiar from other arms of government, also connotes that the judiciary must be free from any pressure or undue interference, this is because the judiciary remains the bulwark and the last bastion of the hope of the people, but if the people lose confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary and the overall manner in which justice is dispensed, then the rule of law will crumble and tumble like the biblical wall of Jericho. There is no doubt that the nation’s judicial sector is facing many challenges which have undermined all efforts to restore integrity and reputation of the sector.

With the recent confirmation of Justice Walter Onnoghen by the Senate as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, much is now expected from him to rekindle hope and restore the confidence Nigerians have in the judiciary. He must break all conservative tendencies militating against achieving reforms in the judicial sector by putting in place a set of radical reform initiatives. This should include a commitment to strengthening the independence, responsibility, efficiency and transparency of the judiciary, responding to the interrelated problems of delayed justice, cost and complexity in the nation’s legal system; promoting and implementing zero tolerance principle with respect to corruption within the judiciary; encouraging appropriate and timely settlement of disputes and diverting matters to more suitable dispute resolution processes.

The new CJN should fashion a strategic mechanism that will ensure a functional and effective intercourse between the three arms of government as regards to administration of justice. This can be possible by creating a National Council for the Administration of justice which shall made up of representatives of the three arms of government with a clear mandate to oversee the implementation of required reforms in the judiciary and justice sector. This has become crystal expedient in view of the fact that achieving a virile justice system in any egalitarian society cannot only be the exclusive prerogative of the judicial arm rather there must be an implicit synergy between the judiciary and the other arms of government.

Also, more efforts should be put in place by the new CJN to tackle the rising influence of abuse of court process in our judicial system. This is because the rule of law which is the subtext of the efficiency of any functional justice system cannot co-exist symmetrically in the same legal system with the abuse of court process as both are conceptually contradictory in terms of having different properties and relationship of points.

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Abuse of court process has not only led to a situation where judicial decisions are influenced by extraneous consideration but has made the operation of the rule of law very vulnerable, subjective and commercialized. It has also encouraged malicious filing of frivolous litigations which lack subject matter jurisdiction with the sole aim of frustrating swift dispensation of justice.   However, it is unfortunate that the nation’s  legal system which supposed to protect the rights of all Nigerians has become ineffective to apply a counter measure aimed at checking these abuses which waste judicial resources and frustrate the wheel of justice. As it is a clear fact that poor dispensation of justice increases opportunistic litigations and judicial entrepreneurship, it is also pertinent to state that the manner in which justice is dispensed is the function of the quality of the bench. It is only when the integrity of the bench is restored that the public interest can be protected and the judiciary  put in the high esteem.

Therefore, the new CJN should ensure that more coherent mechanisms are put in place to restore the reputation of the bench. To this effect, appointment of judges should no more be based on sentiments, political consideration, favoritism and nepotism neither should it be at the whims and caprices of the appointing authorities. Merit should no longer be sacrificed for mediocrity. For our judiciary to function effectively and play its sacred role of upholding the rule of law and protecting the legitimate rights of the citizens, the CJN should ensure that the members of the bench are not men whose sobriety and impartiality instinct have become questionable.

Also, he should ensure that the inherent flaws in the structural organization of the National Judicial Council which have impacted negatively on the efficiency, transparency and public perception of the judiciary are looked  into by carrying out a holistic review of the membership structure of the Council to enable it discharge its statutory functions without any prejudice, especially as it regards the removal and discipline of erring judges. Improvement should also be made on the overall quality of the judgment of some judges as well as the frequency with which conflicting judgments are given in respect of the same set of facts.

Finally, this intervention will no doubt reduce the challenges facing the judiciary by bringing justice closer to the people and restoring faith and confidence in the nation’s justice system.

Enwere writes from Lagos.