The Nation Newspaper

Tag: court workers

  • Stop leaking judgments, CJN tells court workers

    •Onnoghen: manual filing, service of processes to go

    CHIEF Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen has warned court staff to desist from leaking rulings and judgments yet to be delivered to parties.

    Justice Onnoghen urged court support staff to always be guided by the code of conduct for court employees and abstain from unethical conduct in order to retain public confidence in the system.

    He said: “In our quest to birth the Judiciary we all desire, I must not fail to emphasise that in the daily discharge of your duties, the code of conduct for court employees must be your guide and standard.

    “It is trite to note that it promotes the tenet of transparency, integrity and hard work among staff.

    “In this light, you must shun all vices that easily beset you. Vices such as lateness to work, leaking of rulings and judgments as well as absenteeism from work without permission from superior authority must be avoided,” he said.

    Justice Onnoghen spoke in Abuja yesterday at the opening session of the national workshop for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) staff of courts, put together by the National Judicial Institute (NJI).

    The workshop has as its theme: “Information technology as a catalyst for effective justice administration.”

    Represented by Justice John Okoro (of the Supreme Court), the CJN noted that the nation’s judiciary could no longer afford to operate without ICT deployment.

    He said the gradual integration of ICT into court’s operations has help in improving the pace of justice dispensation in the country.

    The CJN added: “The part to effective and efficient justice delivery in Nigeria lies in our ability to continuously improve our justice sector with the use of ICT tools.

    “Thus, judicial administration around the world have imbibed the use of on-line legislation and case law, electronic filing system and the electronic service of court processes,” he said.

    Justice Onnoghen noted that, in view of the importance of ICT to court’s operations today, the nation’s judiciary has developed and deployed the Nigerian Case Management System (NCMS).

    He said the system allows the filing and service of court processes electronically as well as electronic archiving of probate records.

    The CJN assured that the judiciary, under his watch, was committed to achieving lasting structural and ethical reforms that would reposition it to adequately meet the aspirations of court’s users for reliable, effective and efficient administration of justice, using ICT.

    Justice Onnoghen, who recalled his recent directive that the Supreme Court will only serve processes by electronic means (e-main) in all matters, said from July 16, “all filings must bear counsel’s e-mail address.

    “I implore all judges and lawyers to join this trend in this quest for excellence by subscribing to and acquiring the legal e-mail, as the manual form of communication within the Nigerian courts is gradually phasing out,” the CJN said.

     

    NJI Administrator, Justice Roseline Bozimo said the workshop was intended to facilitate capacity building and further skill acquisition for participants in the area of ICT.

    Justice Bozimo noted that the workshop, to end on Friday, will feature presentations in area like Cloud computing, Internet of things (IOT) and the court’s Innovative tools or Dangerous fad, Office 365, Exchange online essential and Cyber security; Emerging threats and Mitigation strategies.

     

     

     

  • Lagos CJ : three court workers to face trial for corruption

    Lagos CJ : three court workers to face trial for corruption

    Three workers in the Litigation Registry of the Lagos State Judiciary and a National Youth Service Corps member arrested for alleged corrupt practices last month are to be charged to court soon, the  Chief Judge, Justice Opeyemi Oke, said yesterday.

    To be arraigned with them is a tout, said to be in the habit of impersonating  workers to defraud court users.

    Justice Oke was speaking at a ceremony to mark her  commitment statement to rid the judiciary of corruption at the Igbosere, Ebute Metta and Yaba Magistrates’ Courts premises. She made the pledge when she was sworn in on ……

    Justice Oke said the workers had appeared before the Lagos State Judiciary Staff Commission.

    The incident, she said, marked the end of their career in the service.

    She said a registrar would also appear before the  commission soon for alleged corrupt practices.

    Justice Oke said her commitment statement  was intended to embolden the public to report any worker, who asked to be paid before before serving them.

    “We don’t want anybody to destroy the Lagos State Judiciary. The Judges are fully in support of the fight we are waging against corruption in the system.

    “The bar is also determined to fight corruption with us. The members of the bar are the users of the court. They too have promised to report back to us”, she said.

    Justice Oke said the bar have also resolved to flush out “accidental lawyers” in their midst to fight corruption in the Judiciary.

    She described accidental lawyers as those who induce staff of the Judiciary with money to get things done.

     

     

  • Aba lawyers, court workers relish end of strike

    Aba lawyers, court workers relish end of strike

    “The strike did more damage than good. It is not that JUSUN members should not fight for what is their right or what belongs to them, but the inability of both the group and government to resolve their differences early enough, my brother, did a lot of damage to the system”

    The four-month-long strike has ended and lawyers and court workers are the happier for it.

    Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Abia State chapter had embarked on an industrial action alongside their federal counterparts after the judgment of an Abuja Court approved the financial autonomy, and other emoluments, of the judiciary.

    While their federal court workers called off the strike following an agreement between their union and the Federal Government, their counterparts in some states continued the action as no such agreement had been reached.

    The situation in Abia State lingered until last week when stakeholders in the judiciary and a delegation from the state government led by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Chief Umeh Kalu among others entered into an agreement with representatives of the workers union. Thereafter, the strike was suspended.

    The suspension of the industrial action brought a smile on the faces of members of the workers’ union, lawyers practicing in the state, inmates awaiting bail and trial including members of the general public seeking justice.

    Our correspondent who went round Aba to monitor the resumption of courts on Monday reports that members of JUSUN in the state urged its members to report to duty.

    The workers complied with the directive.

    In some of the courts visited, including Aba South Magistrate court, workers were seen clearing grass, while court clerks were issuing new dates to lawyers whose cases were adjourned.

    Though the reporter was not able to speak with the Aba South Court I magistrate, His Lordship Chijioke Nwogu his car was spotted at its parking lot even as a staff of the court confirmed that he was in office for duties.

    Some of JUSUN members who preferred anonymity said that though they were yet to see the content of the MOU however expressed their happiness on the decisions of the state government and the judiciary workers’ body in the state to come together on a round table and agreed on certain conditions before the strike was suspended.

    At Aba High, the situation was not different from what was witnessed at the Magistrate Courts as the place was packed full with many lawyers on hand as early as 8am waiting for Judges of respective courts to come to court.

    Some of them that spoke to our correspondent said that they were happy that the court judiciary workers have decided to call of the strike and court expected to resume sitting.

    They expressed concern over the growing number of inmates languishing in prison and police custodies especially people with criminal matters who would have either been granted bail or hearing on their matters to have commenced.

    “Do you know what it means for somebody to be on awaiting trial for nearly four months? Do you know what it means for someone who having met his or her bail application to spend extra months in detention? Do you know what it means for an inmate who was supposed to have served out his sentence in the last three months or so to be delayed again because some judicial processes could not be completed because of the strike? The truth is that the impact of the strike did more damage than good. It is not that JUSUN members should not fight for what is their right or what belongs to them, but the inability of both the group and government to resolve their differences early enough, my brother it (the strike) did a lot of damage to the system,” a lawyer stated.

    Emeka Nnaji, an Aba-based lawyer, in an interview, said,

    “The suspension of the strike is a welcome development. At least the courts are lively now. Some courts sat this morning (Monday), others are busy issuing dates and most lawyers in court taking date for their matters even though it’s a very difficult task for lawyers now, but we are thanking God that the courts are lively now. Some Magistrates were in court but for one reason they didn’t sit because you have to issue dates to the lawyers and even to litigants; they have to know the date their cases before the court can start sitting. So, I thank the JUSUN for calling of the strike, at least people that have problem will like to come to the court for their matters.

    ”The strike made police stations congested; some of the criminal matters that were supposed to charge to court were there (police station) lying pending but as the court have started sitting, I am optimistic that within some couple of days some of those matters that are waiting to go to court will be pushed to court so that people that want justice will go to court and get justice. Then there are some people that are also at the ATM (awaiting trial inmates) now, some of them had already processed their bail papers waiting for an order to be issued for their release, but for the JUSUN strike, they were still in the prison yard.

    ”So what we want now is to tidy up our own side (lawyers’ side) because the magistrates and judges are ready as some started sitting today but for one thing or the order some are doing matters in the chambers and they couldn’t come out today to preside, but we just thank God and every other person that is involved in resolving the industrial dispute between JUSUN and the state government.

    … “Everybody is still learning; both the senior and junior lawyers. Each time you are in court, there is something new you must learn even if you don’t learn the law, you may even learn the psychology of the court and from there you will know how to approach the court when next you are coming to the court… in the area of knowledge, we all lost a very huge thing in the strike.

    “My advice is that both parties should come to a round table. In every crisis, there must be a solution, so I want both JUSUN and the government to have pity on the masses. In every of their grievance let them look at the people that are suffering. I am not saying that JUSUN at not supposed to have that which they are entitled to but I am also asking them to look at the masses that are suffering. There are people that are at ATM in the prisons, there are people that their rights are being trampled upon that wants to come to court to seek redress, but unfortunately, because of the strike, they couldn’t come to the court. So what I am saying is for government and JUSUN officials to come to a round table and solve the problem by sitting in a roundtable so that everything will be well….”

    Chidozie Ogunji the Aba branch chairman of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) is a chat said it was a good development and “it could have been also destructive if the time that we are entering into with the incidences of election and post-election issues which includes election petitions and also time to charge electoral offenders and other things. It will also keep the whole ambit of the profession running again after 4months of dormant engagement. It is now ideal that people should go on and explore the content of the law for the less-privilege and of course it becomes an end to the anomaly of having three arms of government with two working and the one that should play the role of an arbiter between persons and persons, government and persons and government agencies and government. It is a good development and something that we are happy about.

    Ogunji advising government and JUSUN said “To me it is two ways, when government entered into an agreement they should be able to comply with it. However it goes, people should understand that government is a continuum because in a month’s time there will change of leadership, so how I am looking at it is basically that it is a function of the party as much as possible having a meeting of mind. Let government be more open with the JUSUN, JUSUN should also be more understanding. All we want in the state is a harmonious working relationship between the Judiciary and the Executive where the Judiciary will be independent and the Executive is not interfering.

    ”I will suggest that the two parties should be open to each other, when there is that openness in terms of what is generated and what you do to the people, there won’t be much acrimony. So, I believe that the parties will be very much more interested in having the court than any of them either the government or JUSUN throwing up issues that will in any manner forestall or impede the administration of justice in the state.

    Information at The Nation disposal has it that the judiciary workers union after series of meetings and consultations with officials of the Abia State Government signed a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) last week in Umuahia the state capital at the Office of Head of Service to suspend the industrial action.

    A source who was at the meeting named Chief Umeh Kalu,Hon. Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, C.E Anyim,chief Registrar High Court of Abia State, Benson Anya,chief Registrar, Customary Court of Appeal,Abia State, National Vice-President, JUSUN, southeast, Mark Ifezue, Emmanuel Onyemeribeya, Chairman, JUSUN, Abia State Branch, Umuahia NBA Chairman Chief A.C.R Onubuogu among other stakeholders were the people.

    The group said that they wouldn’t hesitate to go back to strike by the end of this month if government fails to implement the content of the MOU.

    In the MOU made available to The Nation the Abia State Government said that they would implement the provisions of section 81(3) and 121(3) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended with regard to seeing that all monies-personnel, overhead and capital costs, due to the State Judiciary as appropriated in the Judiciary Budget are released to Heads of Courts concerned through the accounting officers of the Judiciary on monthly basis on budget performance.

    According to the MOU, the state Government shall issue all necessary circular and instruments to give effect to ensure that the content of the agreement would be implemented in accordance with the Abuja Federal High Court Order.

    ……”that the personnel emolument of the Judiciary staff based on CONJUSS as contained in the 2015 budget estimate be implemented. That this Memorandum of Understanding shall take effect from January, 2015. That all arrears in Overhead, Personnel and Capital Costs in respect of the months of January, February and March, 2015 for the Abia State Judiciary (High Court, Customary Court of Appeal and  Judicial Service Commission) shall be paid along with the April, 2015 release of fund. That the right of JUSUN to resume the industrial action in case of any breach if this memorandum is reserved,” part of the MOU read.

    “To me it is two ways, when government entered into an agreement they should be able to comply with it. People should understand that government is a continuum because in a month’s time there will change of leadership”

     

  • Toll of court workers strike in Aba

    Toll of court workers strike in Aba

    Things are better at the federal level but in some states, the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) strike is exacting an enormous cost on Aba and its residents.

    JUSUN called a strike back in January seeking redress certain issues especially at the workplace and rights of members.

    While JUSUN members at the federal courts have since resumed work, some of their state counterparts were yet to do so. Abia is one of the states which have yet to resolve the issue with the court workers.

    The result is that so many court cases have been left inconclusive, denying people the right to argue their matters or, if they lose, take them to higher courts.

    Civil and criminal cases, land disputes, even human rights matters have been stalled, causing people to resort to alternative ways of resolving their cases.

    Facilities at Aba and Umuahia prisons have continued to be overstretched while the number of inmates, especially those awaiting trial, has also continued to grow astronomically as security agencies almost on a daily basis have continued to dump suspects in prison yards while the courts remain closed.

    While senior lawyers have learnt to adapt to the situation usually associated with JUSUN strike, the young ones who apparently were still learning the rope according to The Nation investigation remained the most frustrated as they now live on stipends from clients seeking for bail from Police custody.

    A source who spoke to The Nation anonymously disclosed that some of the Magistrates close to him had already prepared judgments on some cases before their courts while waiting for JUSUN to call off the industrial action.

    A lawyer who did not want his name in print told our correspondent that the situation has worsened and that many lawyers who depend on legal practice alone resort to borrowing money from their friends and relations to put food on their family’s table, hoping to repay them as soon as the courts begin sitting.

    According to him, “I am not speaking for other lawyers, but I believe that there are people in the same shoe like mine. You will understand what it means to be a bread winner for two families or more and to make the matter worse; the wife who is supposed to be a helper is being owed for about five months salary arrears.  That could be frustrating because as the bread winner for your own and other families, you must try to meet your dependants’ needs.

    “My sister and brother in-law are in school. My mother in-law is in my house. my own brothers and sisters are also in school and I am the one training them. You must also attend to their other needs to ensure that all of them are happy and would not feel cheated. My own children as the Easter holiday has ended will be going back to school and you need to pay their school fees and you must provide for them with beverages and whatever they would need in the dormitory at least to help them settle in  school weeks after resumption of schools. I am not complaining but it is just to paint a picture of what some lawyers like me are passing through and for someone to have stayed idle for like 3 to 4 months without any other means of income, you can understand what life would have been”.

    A member of the JUSUN who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak to the press said that they would soon stop collecting their salary until government decides implementing the decisions of the court to grant them autonomy and also the new salary scale which the source claimed had already being approved by the Abia State House of Assembly during the January presentation of the state’s budget.

    In a chat with the Aba branch chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Chidozie Ogunji, he said “I feel the strike embarked upon by JUSUN is an unfortunate situation; unfortunate situation because I don’t think that those who are striking are looking at it from the dangers which the situation portends.

    “Yes, there is an agreement signed which the government has endorsed and the leaders of the Bar have also endorsed. The situation is, why not call off the strike and if there is non-implementation, you can now take it up from there? You cannot talk of implementation when you have not called off. Government has given an undertaking as supervised by the Bar for implementation of the judgment of Court of Federal High Court and compliance with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended. So, the situation is a dangerous one.

    “We now have a situation where the courts are not sitting and the people are suffering and by the day now resort to self help which is not good for our democracy, our nation and state.”

    On how the strike has affected their job as lawyers, Ogunji said: “Definitely, everything is at a standstill. It is not even like a small coach, a slow coach is even better now, but the situation we have now is a total lockdown; no work and nothing is moving, the courts are shut, lawyers are in their respective offices doing nothing and as the chairman of the Aba branch, it pains me more because daily, I see my members complaining and groaning in poverty.

    “We will also remember that we have younger practitioners, it is a very untidy situation and we just hope that JUSUN…will call it off, whatever other minor issues that may be discussed can be resolved with [the soon-coming government]. Is it the man that is going away that will enter into agreement with any other person? Once he has agreed to comply with the constitutional provision and agreed to comply with the judgment of the court, to us he has done that as required by law, what other demands we make can be done when the new man comes on board because by May 29, a new man must come and the eight-year tenure of the incumbent administration would have ended and there is nothing anybody can do about it. So we hope that the members of JUSUN would understand this.”

    “Yes, workers should be paid well, but definitely, that is not the reason for the strike. The reason for the strike is the constitutional provision and the Federal High Court judgment. Now having met with that, we can only proceed further by the court being opened and then both the Bar and members of JUSUN joining to agitate for that salary increase that they are asking for.

    “After all, we have relations who are all working in the courts. So, we want them to be paid well but the court cannot be locked and they are now asking for payment. They must open the court and when there is non-compliance, they can now proceed on strike.

    ”So our position is that for now, their demand and using the lockup of court as a measure is not acceptable to the branch (NBA Aba Branch).  Using strike as a means of solving industrial actions is not the best in all situations. There are services that you cannot lockdown, take for example, the hospitals, the police, the judiciary these are sacred institutions, without them, the country will collapse. So, there should be other mechanisms. In worst case scenario, you go to the industrial court. These are not acceptable modes of attracting attention in peculiar situations. I certainly don’t agree to that because that will be creating a danger.

    “My suggestion is that JUSUN should call off the strike immediately and then, upon the inauguration of a new government, we would push for their increment in salary which is what they are asking for”.

    In his own contribution, C.K Nwankwo, NBA chairman Ukwa Branch in a telephone interview, said, “We have been pleading with them to call off the strike. Government has done all it has to do for them to call off the strike and we have with them and considered all their requests and the major ones, we begged them and we equally told them that all issues that they were asking for cannot be met at a stretch. So, I don’t understand the continued closure of the court has become unreasonable, it is totally uncalled for and that is my position.

    “I have been part of the negotiation and we made it clear to them that it is high time they call of the strike.

    “I may not suggest that we take the laws into our hands, but I think we can still meet them and make them see reasons and further dialogue with them. But I want the thing to come from government now, the Attorney-General and all the stakeholders should now bring them, lets still come back to the roundtable and see what is remaining and then, probably some confidence building on both sides so that we can ensure that these things are all over so that we can go back to work.

    “For the general public who are also affected by the strike action, my feelings are that the general populace is gradually on a very consistent note losing confidence in the judiciary. It is unheard of that in a clime like our own, the judiciary will be on strike going to the fourth month. It means that that importance of the court as the last hope of the common man is gradually being eroded and people are gradually looking for alternative means of settling their disputes. The courts are the constitutional means but if the people device other means of seeking justice and settling their matters that means that we are going back into the Dark Age and it is not good for the legal system at all”.

    Lambert Chibuike Onuoha, JUSUN founding chairman, said, “Before now in August 2010, Abia State government and JUSUBN Exco led by me (Onuoha) entered into agreement with the union to pay Consolidated Judiciary Salary Structure (CONJUSS) which was about over N15, 000:00; that was when Abia State was paying her workers N9, 000:00 minimum wage. But instead of the payment, the Executive of JUSUN and other members were posted out of the judiciary and the thing was not implemented. Then, this judgment of February 13 2014 by the Federal High Court Abuja when I came on board. In fact all the states including the federal court went on strike for the implementation. So the federal judiciary suspended their strike because their own is being implemented (their financial autonomy is being implemented). But some states just like Abia now came up with memorandum of understanding (MOU) and that MOU is talking about salary overhead and the capital project but you cannot say you are practicing judicial financial autonomy without the prescribed emolument because the financial autonomy of the judiciary is standing on three legs; one is overhead, the other one is capital project and personnel cost, that is worker’s salary. So when you decide to pay overhead and the capital project and drop the personnel cost which is the main thing, it is like someone keep nine commandments, leaving one and the one he or she has decided to leave is the one God said, love your neighbour as yourself, what is the greatest. So, it is as good as that you have never kept any commandment and you know that the Abia State governor is a worker friendly Governor.

    “He, (T. A. Orji) is ready to pay because he constituted this committee as far back as 2010 and promised to pay. The only thing is that there are bad advisers. People who are supposed to advise him well, like the Attorney General who may be for one reason or the other doesn’t want to advice him (Governor) well. The governor cannot be everywhere, so even now, if they would advice him well, he will sign it. In 2010 when the then C.J (Chief Justice) of the state as at then, S. N Imo went to the governor to make a case for some allowances to magistrates, he instantly approved it immediately.

    The Governor is a worker friendly Governor, so the people who are supposed to advice him well are not doing that so even in this strike, workers are not happy to be on this strike because it is affecting so many people. The workers know quite well that there is paucity of fund in the state. We are not going to the N44, 000 :00 minimum wage, they said we know that the state government doesn’t have enough fund, okay pay us the amount that our brothers and sister from Imo State are receiving which they have gone and defended during the budget sometime February, but the thing is still lingering. If somebody will advice the governor well, the governor will accept it.

    “Even if he is not going to pay now and said okay that I am going to pay from June or May, workers will quickly go back to work, I don’t think that they have anything so special in this strike. Look at the health workers; they are enjoying their own salary structure. But this one as small as N28,000 which the Imo state have e been paying the judiciary since 2010 why don’t you give it to this people instead of the percentage because if you go by the percentage, it will be at about N44,000 which will be outrageous for the state government for now. But instead of telling the governor the truth, they go blackmailing the workers or whoever they think that is telling them the truth; I think that is what is holding the thing.