CJN cautions Judges against using technicalities in justice delivery
.Says relying on technicalities in justice dispensation causes delay in justice delivery
Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, has cautioned Judges of superior courts in Nigeria to desist from delivering judgements based on technicalities.
Justice Muhammad gave the warning on Monday while delivering an address at the opening of the 2019 All Nigeria Judges’ Conference of Superior Courts holding at the National Judicial Institute, Abuja.
The CJN harped on the need for Judges to improve on the standards in the process of discharging their adjudicatory functions in order to sustain public confidence.
“I must not fail to mention however, that in order to sustain public confidence in the Judiciary, Judges must continue to be proactive by not allowing technicalities to stand in the way of substantive justice,” the CJN stated.
Justice Muhammad noted that relying on technicalities in justice dispensation contributes in the delay of justice delivery.
“Technicalities in itself sometimes constitute unreasonable delay in dispensing with cases.
“Having said this, I must not fail to emphasise that the timely disposition of cases in our Courts will in no small measure shore up public confidence in the Judiciary,” Justice Muhammad said.
The CJN added that the delay in justice delivery as well as volume of cases on the dockets of Courts still leaves much to be desired, stressing that urgent reforms are however being set in place to take care of the challenges.
“In our desire to curb the delay in justice delivery, we have automated the Nigerian Judiciary.
“We have also developed and deployed the Nigerian Case Management System (NCMS) software. Indeed, the backbone of the Court automation project is the Nigerian Case Management System (NCMS).
He therefore solicited the support and cooperation of Judges for this reform which, he said, will impact positively on the country’s Justice delivery system.
In her speech, the Administrator of National Judicial Institute, Justice Rosaline Bozimo (rtd), said the theme of the conference is “Sustaining Democracy through Effective and Efficient Administration of Justice”.
Justice Bozimo said the theme was timely and apt, considering the role of the judiciary in the country’s legal system.
“The theme of this year’s conference is apt and topical, as judicial integrity and rule of law are the underlying principles of justice and the bedrock of democracy.
