JURIST 27
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Jegede canvasses legal backing for Confab CO N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 5
ever we want to do we have to do within that existing structure of government so that where there is need for restructuring, then we can go ahead and do it and believe that maybe one of the most profound of this resolution of this confab if it works out, is the deliberate weakling of the centre. I believe the centre is too strong , I believe it carries so much load and it does less and for those who are doing the engine room work, there is need to empower them and also give them the resources that they need to allow this country to grow. If that is achieved then I believe the confab would have been a success. Appointment of Chief Judge There is a need for us to understand the need for checks and balances in the system. There is need for us to also understand that structure of governance is in place. It has the executive, judiciary and the legislature, each of these arms of government, enjoys some level of autonomy but they are all to complement each other. The ultimate beneficiary of this should be the citizen of the country who should not be oppressed by either the executive, judiciary or legislative arm of government. The life of the higher goals of democracy that you have what you call checks and balances, the executives and their actions are checked and controlled by the legislative and the judiciary. The legislature is mostly checked by the judiciary while the judiciary is checked by the executive and the legislative. That brings us to the appointment of a Judge and the appointment of a Chief Judge of a state and Nigeria. The whole idea is to ensure that the executive should not on its own pick a tool that would be used to create dislocation in the system; to oppress the citizen or to oppress other arm of government. In other words, in appointing a Chief Judge of a state, all the arms of governments are involved and there is no way an arm of government can do it alone. That is why in the process leading to the appointment of the Chief Judge, the Judicial Service Committion of the state will meet to recommend names to the National Judicial Council (NJC). The NJC will meet and pick from the list that was sent to it by the JSC and send
Jegede, SAN
a recommendation to the governor of a state who will make the appointment. But he can only make the appointment based on the recommendation made by the NJC. In other words, there is no complete and unchecked power on the part of the governor in the appointment. There is no complete or unchecked power on the part of the judiciary and the NJC and the legislature because even the appointment of the Chief Judge, would have to pass through the House of Assembly of a state. If the House does not approve of it he cannot be appointed, if a person is recommended, he may be appointed because ultimately the governor would make the appointment but he can only make the appointment that has emanated from the base, which is the JSC and has gone through the crucible of checks and balances of all these on all as established by the constitution before they can make their appointment. A governor cannot wake up in a day and appoint his brother or relative ,it would be an abuse of the system. The entire constitutional provision is to ensure that there is no tyranny of power on the part of the governor of the state, JSC, NJC, House of Assembly. I think, in a system that has no politics, that thoroughly deserves to serve the people, there should be no conflict because it is done with the best interest. Whether we have incidences where there are conflicts, a lot of politics has gone into it and it becomes a problem. I think that is what we are facing now. Ondo state alleged injustice against retired judges Let me commend the retired judges as any other retired career public servants because I foresee and I know they had put in their best in the service of their state. The issues that have to do with their post-retirement benefits are also regulated by law and statute. Therefore, anything outside that rights and privileges stipulated by law and statute is discretionary. In other words, a retired judge is expected to earn a particular income under the Act that makes provision for that payment for the benefits of the judges. Again, under the pension there are also benefits accruable to our judges and they are expected to retire and enjoy the rest of their life and that’s what the law expects to do. So, when there are retired judges who are desirous of serving having served and retired, they should also realize that there are also other numerous Nigerians who also have opportunity to serve and I think the less we say about it the better for us. Nigeria’s Democracy I want to say we have a delicate democracy in place and the success of our democratic institution and our democracy as a whole, depends on the participants. it rests squarely on the shoulders of our politicians and public officers and the earlier they realize they need to place national interest above persons, job the better for us.
Stakeholders appraise Lagos partnership law on pro bono
L-R: Lagos Attorney-General, Mr. Ade Ipaye, Lagos State Deputy Governor, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire and Solicitor-General/Permernent Secretary, Lawal Pedro, SAN.
Prof. Edwin Rekosh
Cross section of lawyers
Mrs Uwais
Mr. Johnson Odionu and Mrs Funmi Falana
Foluso Ogunmodede
Fashola administration to partner private law firms with a view to providing pro bono legal services to indigent citizens. He said: “About 116 cases are being handled in court by LPILP on behalf of those who are faced with legal problems and who cannot afford to pay an attorney. As part of efforts to provide institutional support for the LPILP, the ‘Building a culture of pro bono in Nigeria’, was conceived by the Justice Research Institute Ltd.Gte(JRI) and PILnet: the Global Network for Public Interest Law, funded by OSIWA”. At the event were Lagos Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Mr. Lawal Pedro, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Honourable Adejoke OrelopeAdefulire, who stood in for Governor Fashola, Professor Lanre Fagbohun and an Adjunct Professor from
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IXTEEN months after its inauguration by Lagos Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigerian, major stakeholders in the nation’s justice administration thronged the Agip Hall, MUSON centre, Onikan, Lagos to celebrate the success recorded by the state Public Interest Law Partnership (PILP)- a culture of Pro bono in Nigeria. No fewer than 66 firms and four non-governmental Organisations(NGOs) had partnered PILP since its inauguration in November 2012. In his remark, the Lagos Justice Commissioner and Attorney-General, Mr. Ade Ipaye, while chronicling major breakthroughs of LPILP in the last 16 months, described it as a platform which enables the Babatunde
a Columbia University, New York, Edwin Rekosh. Others include OSIWA representative, Mr. Peter Ocheikwu, Pro Bono coordinator,Ms Funmi Owuye, Mr Mark Mordi, Mr Kola Oluwadare , an activist lawyer, Mrs Funmi Falana and Mr. Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem. Also at the Governor’s dinner and commendation night, Governor Fashola applauded some of the firms which had partnered LPIP, describing them as effort as noble, insisting that they had done wonderfully well. He said: ‘Those who have signed up to be part of the Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership, have done a great thing which is indeed very noble especially going by the fact that the programme has recorded participation by 64 law firms with individual law firms in them’.