The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, has lamented the increasing number of cases pending in superior courts across the country.
The CJN, who linked the high number of cases to the poor performance of some judges, warned that the National Judicial Council (NJC) would not hesitate to show under-performing judges the way out of the bench.
Kekere-Ekun sounded the warning on Tuesday in Abuja while declaring open the 3rd Annual National Judicial Council (NJC) Conference on Judges’ Performance Evaluation.
She stated, “We must be deeply concerned by the increase in the number of pending cases and low disposition rates. As of the first quarter of 2024, we had a total of 243,253 cases pending in our superior courts of record, exclusive of the Supreme Court. This total is comprised of 199,747 civil cases and 43,506 criminal cases.
“Therefore, it is imperative for all of us to take a serious note of this alarming situation and refocus our attention towards enhancing our judicial performance.”
According to her, justices and judges cannot wish away the growing backlog of cases or expect a different result if they continue to do things the same way.
Kekere-Ekun urged the justices and judges to justly, speedily and effectively execute their roles as judicial officers, so that the populace would not lose confidence in the judiciary.
While observing that most people believed the judicial process was often painstakingly slow and tedious, the CJN enjoined judges to leverage on information technology options and case management innovations to enhance their judicial performance.
She said, “The introduction of digital case management systems, the Judicial Performance Evaluation Software (JPES), virtual courtrooms, e-filing systems, digital databases, web seminars, online meetings and advanced research engines provide a myriad of tools for efficiency in case disposition.”
The CJN acknowledged the increase in the salaries and allowances of judicial officers by President Bola Tinubu as a remarkable achievement.
She said the improvement in the welfare of judicial officers was a step in the right direction to promote the independence of the judiciary, which would in turn impact the professionalism, quality and pace of justice in the country.
Earlier, the chairman of the six-member Performance Evaluation Committee, Retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Sidi Bage Muhammad, lamented the consistently low performance of some judges despite the continuous guidance given by his committee.
Muhammad said the situation informed the decision by the NJC, at its 106th meeting, that henceforth, any judicial officer assessed as having persistently poor performance should be identified and recommended by the committee for removal from office.
He stated that the purpose of the committee was not to witch-hunt, intimidate, oppress or create fear in the minds of judges in the performance of their constitutional and statutory judicial duties.
Muhammad said the committee sought to support the judges to expeditiously discharge their adjudicatory responsibilities competently, diligently and in accordance with their oaths of office.
He stated, “However, the committee does not and will not tolerate repeated acts of non-performance due to indolence, nonchalance or impunity, as may be inferred from some of the returns submitted by our judicial officers and even the submission of false returns by a few. These practices must stop.
“In furtherance of its mandate, the committee continues to hold show cause meetings, which provide heads of courts and individual judges the opportunity to engage with the committee and jointly work towards developing lasting solutions aimed at enhancing performance.”
He said the committee was trying to establish a new system for the evaluation of judicial officers, which would focus on both qualitative and quantitative indicators.
In a welcome address, NJC Secretary, Mr Gambo Saleh, described the theme of the conference, “Judgecraft, Performance, and the way Forward,” as apt.
Saleh urged the judges to share experiences and perspectives on the issue and provide necessary impetus to enhance Performance Assessment Techniques.
He thanked the CJN for approving the event and its content, and pointed out that it demonstrated commitment to entrenching a clear performance regime in line with global best practices.
“It is in line with the vision of bequeathing a judiciary that is much faster on justice delivery,” Saleh said.
Alex Enumah
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