By Olisa Agbakoba SAN
The new CJN must work very hard to rebuild public trust in the judiciary, which, sadly, has declined. There has to be a complete overhaul of the operating model of the courts. To take up to 20 years for cases to crawl up to the Supreme Court gives little confidence to anyone, not least investors. The first task is to create a Speed of Justice programme. The courts need new rules of procedure. The current rules are a modified version of the English rules in England, just under 100 years ago.
Achieving a new, modern operating model is not necessarily by the appointment of a bench of new judges, but by enhancing the capacity and productivity of each judge. Judges must be enabled, through transformational rules of procedure, to work 24/7. The courts must never close, a claimant may file an action at midnight. A judge must have what is called case management powers to deal with cases expeditiously, with the fundamental objective of speed and delivering results to court users. In much the same way a medical doctor treats patients with measurable results, the introduction of modern tools and rules of procedure will change the face of our courts.
The only Chief Justice of Nigeria who created the momentum for transformation was the late Dahiru Musdapher (may God rest his soul). I was his assistant, so I speak firsthand. Unfortunately, CJN Musdapher’s tenure lasted only six months. I recommend the Musdapher report to the present CJN and wish her every success.