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Tag: Lagos courts

  • Lagos courts begin Xmas vacation December 24

    The Lagos State High Court will be on vacation from December 24 to January 4 next year.

    The Chief Judge Justice Opeyemi Oke approved the vacation in accordance to powers conferred on her, pursuant to Order 45 Rule 4 (c) of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure Rules, 2012.

    A statement by the Chief Registrar, Mrs. D. T. Olatokun said work would resume on January 7, 2019.

    The statement said arrangements had been made to deal with urgent cases during the vacation.

    It said: “Arrangements for dealing with urgent cases during the Christmas vacation are that each judge will deal with all urgent applications related to any substantive cause already assigned to him/her.

    “Any urgent application, the substantive cause of which has not already been assigned will be dealt with by the judge to whom the application is specially assigned.

    “Notwithstanding the provision of Order 45 Rule 4, any cause or matter may be heard by a judge during the period of the Christmas vacation where such a cause or matter is urgent and provided that the condition prescribed by Order 45 Rule 5 shall be observed and complied with.’’

     

  • Lagos courts deliver 23,900 judgments

    • ‘How each judge performed’

    The Lagos State Judiciary has delivered 23,900 judgments in the last one year, the Chief Judge, Justice Opeyemi Oke has said.

    Speaking at the opening of the 2018/2019 Legal Year, Justice Oke said the judgments were delivered from last October till September, this year.

    She said the 59 high court judges delivered 2,876 judgments and 3,984 rulings within the period.

    Magistrates delivered 16,862 judgments, while the Small Claims Court delivered 178 judgments less than five months after its inauguration.

    The magistrates, numbering 122, delivered 6,920 judgments in criminal matters in Apapa, Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos, Epe and Yaba magisterial areas.

    For the high court, 9,345 judgments were delivered in civil matters, 57 in appeal cases emanating from magistrate courts, 347 in miscellaneous matters and 193 in the family courts.

    A breakdown of the verdicts given by each judge shows that Justice Oke delivered 29 judgments, including 16 contested and 13 non-contested judgments, and 17 rulings.

    Justice Kazeem Alogba delivered 41 judgments and gave 63 rulings, while Justice Doris Okuwobi delivered 30 judgments and 59 rulings.

    Justice Yetunde Idowu delivered 59 judgments and 23 rulings; Justice Taofikat Oyekan-Abdullahi delivered 35 judgments and 45 rulings; Justice G.M. Onyeabo delivered 64 judgments and 28 rulings; Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye delivered 64 judgments and 111 rulings while Justice Babajide Candide-Johnson delivered 76 judgments and 30 rulings.

    Justice Iyabo Kasali delivered 44 judgments and 42 rulings; Justice Agnes Nicol-Clay delivered 48 judgments and 29 rulings; Justice Mufutau Olokoba delivered 20 judgments and 28 rulings; Justice A.J. Coker delivered 31 judgments while Justice M. A. Dada delivered 45 judgments and 63 rulings.

    The statistics shows that Justice Raliat Adebiyi delivered 35 judgments and 144 rulings; Justice Morenik Obadina gave 52 judgments and 82 rulings; Justice Hakeem Oshodi delivered 34 judgments and 52 rulings; while Justice Josephine Oyefeso delivered 27 judgments, 52 rulings, as well as 146 non-contested judgments and 145 non-contested rulings.

    Others are: Justice Olusola Williams (75 judgments, 101 rulings), Justice Yetunde  Adesanya (36 judgments, 40 rulings), Justice Adedayo Oyebanji (61 judgments, 32 contested and 229 non-contested rulings), Justice Olusola Pedro (84 judgments, 42 rulings), Justice Lateefat Okunnu (66 judgments, 13 consent judgments, 83 rulings), and Justice Beatrice Oke-Lawal (36 judgments, 71 rulings).

    Others are Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo (24 judgments, 12 rulings), Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo (46 judgments, 52 rulings), Justice Sybil Nwaka (124 judgments, 79 rulings), Justice Ayisat Opesanwo (38 judgments, 57 rulings), and Justice Olaide Olayinka (36 judgments, 60 rulings).

    Others are Justice Abidemi Okikiolu-lghile (44 judgments, 64 rulings), Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo (28 judgments, 23 rulings), Justice Olabisi Akinlade (62 judgments, 19 rulings), Justice Owolabi Dabiri (37 judgments, 65 rulings), and Justice Kudirat Jose (79 judgments – 47 contested and 32 non-contested, 49 rulings).

    The figures for other judges are: Justice Marian Emeya (31 judgments, 102 rulings), Justice Ibironke Harrison (69 judgments, 97 rulings), Justice Kafeel Dawodu (156 judgments, including 112 consent judgments, 62 rulings), Justice Latifat Oluyemi (73 judgments, 44 rulings), and Justice Lateefat Folami (30 judgments, 45 rulings).

    Others are: Justice Olubunmi Femi-Adeniyi (24 judgments, 356 rulings), Justice Folashade Bankole-Oki (42 judgments, 43 rulings), Justice Akintunde Savage (160 judgments, 44 rulings), Justice Oyindamola Ogala (34 judgments, 82 rulings), Justice Ganiyu Safari (31 judgments, 84 rulings) and Justice Sedoten Ogunsanya (45 judgments, 117 rulings).

    Justice Wasiu Animahun – delivered 50 judgments and 36 rulings, Justice Olamide Akinkugbe (27 judgments, 55 rulings), Justice Serifat Sonaike (42 judgments, 88 rulings), Justice Abdulfattah Lawal (80 judgments, 14 rulings), Justice Abisoye Bashua (39 judgments, 45 rulings).

    The rest are Justice Adedayo Akintoye (41 judgments, 60 rulings), Justice Olabisi Ogungbesan (35 judgments, 69 rulings), Justice Obafemi Adamson (38 judgments, 66 rulings), Justice Idowu Alakija (28 judgment, 85 rulings), and Justice Emmanuel Ogundare (24 judgments, 21 contested and 156 non-contested rulings).

    Justice Sherifat Solebo delivered eight judgments and 28 rulings; Justice Olukayode Ogunjobi delivered four rulings and 32 non-contested rulings; JusticeYetunde Pinheiro gave three rulings, while Justice Christopher Balogun and Justice Abiola Soladoye had no judgments or rulings recorded against their names

  • Lagos courts in state of emergency over congestion, says CJ

    Lagos State Chief Judge (CJ), Justice Opeyemi Oke, has said the state’s courts are in a state of emergency.

    This is the fallout of the evaluation of 2,886 old case files, including a 70-year-old matter, under its Backlog Elimination Programme (BEP).

    The BEP is a programme designed to decongest the courts by re-evaluating old cases and find ways to resolve them through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) or accelerated hearing.

    The CJ said the 70-year-old case, the oldest in the pack, is “seeking to enforce a judgment”.

    Justice Oke broke the news while opening this year’s edition of Lagos Backlog Elimination Programme, organised by the State Judiciary, BEP and Lagos Court of Arbitration (LAC) at the Foyer of the High Court of Lagos State in Igbosere.

    The CJ recalled that during her inauguration last October, she identified as foremost what she called inordinate delay and court congestion, which disfigured administration of justice and formed the bane of the state Judiciary.

    She also said it clogged her promise to redress the two problems on assumption of duty in her efforts to restore public confidence in the Judiciary and make administration of justice quick and efficient.

    Justice Oke regretted that the “delay has led to public ridicule of the Judiciary, which is supposed to be the hope of the common man”.

    She added: “This delay, coupled with the continuous filing of new cases, has led to congestion of the courts with a ridiculous number of backlog of cases. The result is that the courts are now in a state of emergency.

    “Presently, there are hundreds of cases in the court dockets that are over five years; the oldest is a 70-year-old case. This is a far cry from what can be said to be a reasonable time. Ideally, the matters ought to be concluded in weeks, months or, at most, a year. Many of these cases ought not to be in court at all as they could have been resolved through ADR.”

    Citing Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, The CJ averred that the rights to fair and reasonable timely trial before a court or tribunal is one of fundamental rights of Nigerians.

    She said this explained the need for action to be taken to redress the situation through the BEP and recourse to ADR.

    Justice Oke this was the reason the BEP was inaugurated in January – to decongest High Court of Lagos State of the mentioned old cases.

    The CJ said the first phase of the BEP would involve evaluation of old cases in batches – by volunteers from different law firms.

    She added that the volunteers were through with the first batch involving case files that were five years old and above.

    According to her, the second batch will involve case files of 10 years and above and the third batch will involve case files of 15 years and above.

    Justice Oke said work had begun on case files that were 25 years old and above.

    He said: “After evaluation, facts of each case are summarised, causes of delay identified and recommendation would be made as to efficient means of disposal, whether by ADR or accelerated hearing.”

    Giving a summary of the cases evaluated, Justice Oke averred that land matters accounted for majority of the backlog cases, followed by commercial matters – which are based on breach of contacts, debt recovery, mortgage matters, bank and customer-related disputes, matrimonial causes, probate and enforcement of judgments.

    The CJ said majority of the cases were at trial stages.

    On the possibility of settlement, she said 59.3 per cent of the cases were not suitable for ADR while 49.3 per cent were suitable for resolution through the mechanism.

    Justice Oke said the remaining 1.4 per cent were either recommended to be struck out or parties had reportedly settled matrimonial causes though settlement to ancillary reliefs could be referred to ADR.

    LCA President Yemi Candide-Johnson, who delivered a lecture, titled: Discussing the Future of Access to Justice and Delivery of Justice in Lagos State: the Role of the Courts and Backlog Elimination Programme, said indices confirmed that civil justice system was failing and that delay, especially was affecting prompt, efficient and effective justice to the users of the court.

    He added: “The goal of a global Lagos cannot be achieved unless the public has confidence in the mechanism of prompt and efficient dispute resolution and, above all, unless they trust and respect the Judiciary.

    “It is obvious that trust and respect will be lost, if there are corrupt and inefficient practices that result in delay at the courts. These are things researched and identified and analysed in ongoing BEP.”

     

  • CJ: Lagos courts to go paperless soon

    Paper and manual filing of court documents will soon end at the Lagos State High Court, the Chief Judge of Lagos, Justice Opeyemi Oke, has said.

    She said the court would soon go digital with the deployment of an electronic platform.

    Also, Justice Commissioner Adeniji Kazeem said a technology-driven judiciary would enable the state to achieve better efficiency and quicker results.

    They spoke yesterday at the opening of the technical sessions at the Annual Law Week of the Lagos branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), with the theme: Human Capital and the Legal Profession in the 21st Century.

    The keynote speaker, who is also the Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA) President, Mr Yemi Candide-Johnson (SAN) said lawyers must adopt global best practices as legal services consumers no longer accepted anything less.

    According to Justice Oke, who was represented by Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo, an information and communication technology (ICT) consultant was working on the digital platform.

    The chief judge expressed optimism that lawyers practising in Lagos would not find it difficult to migrate to the platform.

    She said: “It is clear that the Bar and Bench in Lagos are working in tandem towards bringing the practice of law and adjudication in the state in line with evolving trends and international best practices.

    “It has been a pleasure to observe that lawyers practising in Lagos State have already started moving in line with international best practices and have been most cooperative and understanding with the efforts of the Lagos State judiciary as we move along those lines.

    “We appreciate the fact that such changes may not be convenient, bearing in mind that most of us are used to the traditional modes of practising law. But as the theme of the law week conveys, the world is moving at a very fast pace and we cannot afford to be left behind.

    “So, it behoves on all of us – the Bar and the Bench – to move in line with contemporary trends. Within the Lagos State judiciary, we are initiating an ICT platform for the filing of processes at the High Court on an e-platform, in which case we’re trying to go paperless in the nearest future. But for now, we have started the process.

    “We have an IT consultant designing our IT platforms for the implementation. That is why it gladdens my heart that while we’re doing that from the judiciary end, the Bar is also moving in tandem with this and is initiating programmes and sensitising its members on the need for all of us to work together.”

    Kazeem said the event’s theme was apt in the face evolving trends of service delivery in all facets economic activity.

    He added: “I’m passionate about the technology-driven system. I’m of the belief that more efficiency and faster result will be obtained when we put technology to good use. You will agree that technology has made our lives easier from the way we live to the way we learn and work.

    “As a matter of fact, artificial intelligence is no longer a buzzword; it is coming more to life. It has been predicted that in less than a decade from now, most of the work done by humans will be taken over by robots and such other artificial creations of man.

    “This we’re seeing in many areas, such as robot-managed factories, driverless cars, electronic filing of documents and even electronic research assistance. You will agree with me that this is not fable and that even the legal profession is not exempted.”

    Candide-Johnson said 20th century ideas were no longer relevant in legal practice, adding that the 21st century lawyer must be globally-compliant.

    He said such lawyers must have collaboration skills and emotional intelligence, must be financially literate, be good in project management and have technological affinity.

    Lawyers, the LCA President said, must not only know how to run a business and interpret financial statements but must as well have sound knowledge of relevant technology to avoid missing opportunities.

  • Lagos courts to run on solar energy

    •Scheme takes off at Yaba

    COURTS in Lagos State will soon have an independent power supply to facilitate their work.

    The Chief Judge, Justice Opeyemi Oke, yesterday inaugurated a solar energy power, the first of its kind in the judiciary nationwide,  that will exclusively serve magistrates’ courts in Yaba, Lagos Mainland.

    It  will improve efficiency and effective justice delivery, she said, at the courtrooms will be cool for them to work in”, she said.

    Justice Oke noted that the power source would help reduce overhead cost and enhance power usage.

    She said the gesture would soon be extended to other courts in the state.

    According to her, the fact that the  Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, flew in from Japan on Sunday night to be part of the event underscored the importance the government attached to effective justice delivery.

    “Lagos is the first to do this. We are thinking of a smart city, without a smart city, nothing can work.  We are moving towards a cleaner energy source that has no emissions,” she noted.

    Kazeem said: “I am excited by the inauguration of this solar energy. Soon, we would be extending solar energy to other courts in the state to improve their efficiency and justice delivery.”