The Students Union Judicial Council of University of Ilorin is set to commence competition on judgment writing on the 17th of July, 2020.

This was disclosed to TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL) by the Council.

According to them, the competition will be held online and will last for two weeks with about N400, 000 worth prizes.

Read the details below:

“The Judicial Council, Student Union, University of Ilorin is set to hold the FIRST-EVER National Online Judgment Writing Competition. The competition is said to be a manifestation of the Student Union Judicial Council’s resolve to maximize the potentials of undergraduate minds both in the University of Ilorin and beyond and to systematically train participants in the rare skill of decision-making and extensive research. The competition is themed in accordance with the popular PLAIN ENGLISH MOVEMENT.

“It would be recalled that most skepticism that surround judicial institutions in Nigeria of which the Student Union Court is not an exception is that it continues to make the language of her judgment very technical such that even laymen and average speakers of the English Language do not often understand. This, the Key Organizer of the competition, Azeez Mujeeb Opeyemi explains “may have been the reason for little appreciation of the ENERGY and SKILL that have been infused into many landmark cases in Nigeria from the times of Golden age of the Supreme Court of Nigeria to her present age.’’.

“Therefore, as a means of solving these problems, the Judicial Council through her research found the #PLAINENGLISHMOVEMENT as a mechanism of bridging the gap that had existed between general members of the public and judicial institutions in Nigeria. As a means of rebranding these judicial value systems, the Student Union Judicial Council, University of Ilorin intends to use this competition to send a strong signal to student judges to redirect their style of writing judgments and institutionalize writing in plain English for easy comprehension and appreciation of court judgments”.

“The objective of the competition is to “model contemporary judges in the uncommon art of judgment writing and decision making which is society-oriented in content and form rather than being too legalistic and monotonous”. The Judicial Council also wishes to prove a point that “ideal judges can write beautifully, legally and judicially without losing societal appeal”. As a means of advancing these objectives, the Judicial Council shall experiment with football terminologies and tactics throughout the competition. Fans will be able to vote their best referees (judges) of the tournament (Competition), the best club (Team) in the League (competition). The Fans Club who are voters will also be entitled to jerseys(cash), boots(BOOKS) and many more during the pendency of the competition. There about 400, 000 worth of prizes to be won I the competition.

“The Tournament will commence on the 17th July, 2020 and will run for two weeks with Rounds, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final. For more enquiries, please forward same to [email protected]“