A Chief Magistrate of the Lagos State Judiciary, Kikelomo Odeyemi-Ayeye, is leading a bold new campaign for a reform of the magistracy and the elevation of magistrates to the status of judges. ROBERT EGBE writes that Odeyemi-Ayeye’s new book on the subject matter is catching the attention of stakeholders.
If anyone is qualified to speak on the magistracy, it is Kikelomo Odeyemi-Ayeye.
Her fascination for that level of the judiciary began when she visited magistrate courts in 1992 during her Nigerian Law School compulsory Law Office Attachment.
Seven years later, Odeyemi-Ayeye applied for and was appointed a magistrate in the Lagos State Judiciary.
Now, 22 years after, she is leveraging her insider knowledge and experience to push for a reform of the sector.
Odeyemi-Ayeye’s vision is contained in her new book ‘Such Other Courts: Inferior Courts? Inferior Justice!’, launched recently in Lagos.
Noting the constitutional description of the magistrate court as ‘inferior’, she made the argument that the court is not inferior by any standard because “we dispense justice.”
The jurist lamented that the tag of inferior plus the relatively lowly status of magistrates has affected their payroll, pension, condition of service and their dignity.
‘’It has affected the condition of service, it has affected the dignity of a person who is much more than you are calling him. We have superior courts, we agree but we are not inferior. We are lawyers, we are much more than we are being subjected to. The status of inferiority has affected us. Things should change so the quality of justice being dispensed can be improved,” Odeyemi-Ayeye said.
The challenges confronting the magistracy in many states are general knowledge to stakeholders.
On January 5, 2021, Magistrate Richard Bassey collapsed at the gate of the governor’s office in Calabar during a protest over unpaid 24 months’ salary.30 magistrates dressed in their full regalia partook in the peaceful protest.
The then National President, Magistrates’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr Saidu Umar, said in 2017 in Ibadan that magistrates handle 80 per cent of court cases in Nigeria, but work under very deplorable conditions,
“Magistrates’ work conditions are very poor; they do most of the work and make massive sacrifices, but no one cares about their welfare or even the courts they work in,” Umar said in a speech at MAN’s National Executive Council Meeting (NEC).
Although Lagos is reputed to be among the leading states in terms of magistrates’ welfare and work conditions’ Odeyemi-Ayeye’s advocacy is beyond her state of service.
In the 160 pages of her book, Odeyemi-Ayeye advocated that the magistrate court should be treated as a court of limited jurisdiction, as is obtainable in other climes.
When the book was launched in Lagos last month, it was to a flurry of critical acclaim.
Administrative Judge of the Lagos State Judiciary, Justice Taofiquat Oyekan-Abdullahi described it as a reference book for lawyers and the legislature.
She backed Odeyemi-Ayeye’s call for the removal of the tag “Inferior Court’ which the constitution placed on magistracy.
Justice Oyekan-Abdullahi and the author, Chief Magistrate Kikelomo Odeyemi-Ayeye, at the launch of the book, ’Such Other Courts: Inferior Courts? Inferior Justice!’ said “The ‘Inferior’ referred to here, is not on the personal or the person sitting on the Magistracy but in the tag which the constitution has put them. We need that tag to be released and if anyone reads this book, he will see the urgency and the need that this must be done.”
Similarly, Chairman, Lagos State Law Reform Commission (LSLRC) Mr Kemi Pinheiro SAN, commended the author for her diligence and time expended in writing the book.
He said: ‘’I am very impressed, the author made far-reaching recommendations and reforms in the judicial sector. I must say that 70 per cent of Nigerians’ first relationship with the justice sector is at the magistrate’s level.
“Therefore, it boggles the mind why we then call the magistrate’s court an inferior court. Inferior means subservient, substandard. I do not think that a duly constituted court is a substandard court. Yes, it may be a lower court but that does not make it substandard.
‘’The problem stems from the fact that the constitution has failed to formally recognise the magistracy in the hierarchy of courts. I think it is time, and that is one of the things we are doing at the Lagos State Law Reform Commission.
“We are taking a second look at the Magistrate’s Court Law, proffer far reaching reforms and we intend to engage the Attorney- General’s Office and the Judiciary in Lagos State to see how far reaching these reforms will be.”
In his foreword, Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN) commended the author ‘for daring to venture into this often forgotten area of our jurisprudence.
‘’I must commend the author for daring to venture into this often forgotten area of our jurisprudence. The author has copiously shared her personal experience in this book and these would be of immense benefit to young lawyers who are starting out in practice. This book is a veritable resource and I do not hesitate to recommend it to legal practitioners, magistrates, law students, political and thought leaders as well as laymen,” Keyamo added:
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