A famous human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN has described then directive of the Chief Justice of Nigeria locking down all courts in Nigeria as Unconstitutional.

TNL recalls that CJN gave the directive in a circular tagged:

“RE: PREVENTIVE MEASURES ON THE SPREAD OF CORONA VIRUS COVID-19 AND THE PROTECTION OF JUSTICES, JUDGES AND STAFF OF COURTS,”

The Directive reads:

‘Further to my earlier Circular Ref. No. NJC/ClR/HOC/II/629 dated 20″ March, 2020, on the above subject matter.

” In view of the reality of the COVID-l9 in the country and in order to take further preventive steps, all Heads of Courts are from tomorrow the 24th day of March, 2020, directed to suspend Court sittings for an initial period of two weeks at the first instance, except in matters that are urgent, essential or time bound according to our extant laws.”

In reaction to the legal implication of the directive, Falana in an interview with Channels Television said:

“As for me, each of the courts with profound respect is presided by a head. By the enabling laws setting up the courts, the relevant provisions of the constitution and the Rules of Court, the Chief Justice of Nigeria lacks the power under the current constitutional arrangement to lock down all courts in Nigeria”

Falana cited pending applications for the enforcement of fundamental rights, the need for review of expired remand orders and pending judgments and cases which are awaiting the attention of the courts.

There is also a loss of revenue. Apart from budgetary allocations, the judiciary typically generates revenue from filing fees, penalties paid for late filing of processes, costs imposed by courts on litigants and lawyers and even revenue from the probatwa registry. Efforts to get figures from heads of courts were unsuccessful

But many lawyers told the Channels Television that the losses run into millions of Naira.

According to Bayo Akinlade, the Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association, Ikorodu Branch:

“People do not realize that the Judiciary also generates income on probate matters and in the probate alone it is said that it generated more than 30 million in a month. So it is very hard to say what kind of losses the Judiciary is facing now.”

There is no doubt that the Covid-19 Pandemic has exposed the weaknesses inherent in our administration of justices system in the country. While other countries in the world have introduced reforms to ensure that their court system continues without disruption in situations like this, the Nigerian Judiciary has refused to revolve to embrace technology

Yemi Candid-Johnson, SAN said:

“So the question is with all the platforms available, why is it that the Chief Justice of Nigeria didn’t say it to himself: we have a crisis, we have a medical emergency which makes it difficult for us to meet physically, therefore, I want to know what the solutions are. Someone will say: sir have you heard of Skype? Sir have you heard of Zoom?”

The Global health emergency which Covid-19 presents an opportunity for the Nigerian Judiciary to Kickstart reformation by joining the rest of the world in digitalizing its processes.