The Justice Reform Project (JRP) has asked the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola to introduce verbatim and electronic recording of proceedings across courts nationwide as a way of forestalling a situation where the courts and the general public will be faced with conflicting narratives as seen in the case involving the Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State and a lawyer, Inibehe Effiong.
JRP stated this in a recent recommendations made to the CJN which highlighted two urgent areas of the justice delivery system requiring urgent reform – Publication of Judgment and Verbatim Recording of Proceedings” .
The letter in part:
Since our letter to your Lordship on 4th July 2022, the justice sector has witnessed numerous controversies, which underscore the urgency of our recommendations in the said letter. In that letter, the Justice Reform Project (JRP) congratulated your Lordship on his appointment as Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria and urged your Lordship to, as an urgent matter, consider the imminent implementation of the reform proposals agreed by major stakeholders at the Justice Sector Summit in January 2022.
In the weeks following the referenced letter, the Supreme Court on 26th July 2022 had to issue a disclaimer informing the public about the wrong publication of a judgment, and the Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom has been in the news for the committal of a legal practitioner for contemptuous conduct in the course of proceedings. These events underscore the urgency of justice sector reforms and necessitate the prioritisation of court digitalisation. In this regard, we propose two cost-effective and easily-attainable solutions that will forestall similar controversies in the future.
(1) Publication of Judgments:
The Supreme Court’s recent disclaimer identified the existence of two different copies of a final judgment of the Supreme Court and urged members of the public to disregard the draft copy of the judgment that was erroneously certified by the registry. While JRP commends the registry’s proactive response to an embarrassing situation by issuing the disclaimer, the publication of decisions of the Supreme Court on its website would obliterate any doubts as to the authenticity of a judgment of the court and ensure easy verification by members of the public.
JRP considers this to be a low-hanging fruit considering that the National Industrial Court already does this. Accordingly, JRP urges your Lordship to consider the irnplementation of a similar framework across superior courts of records nationwide. With most (if not all) judgments produced with word processors like Microsoft Word, it will take no effort to produce electronic copies that can be uploaded to the courts’ websites. Fees paid for certified copies can also be collected through a secure paywall as is the case with the Corporate Affairs Commission. Not only will this ensure efficiency and forestall similar controversies, it will also curb corruption in the judiciary, a move that will ultimately be beneficial for the justice sector
(2) Verbatim Recording of Proceedings:
The committal of any person for contempt requires a factual basis that shows clearly objectionable conduct. This is all the more important where the decision is being reviewed. In cases of contempt committed during proceedings, the record of proceedings is undoubtedly the best evidence of the events as they transpired and will, in most cases, always be referred to.
The need for an unquestionable and accurate record of proceedings was emphasised by the recent case involving the Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State. While the convicted practitioner accused the Chief Judge of bias and intimidation, the Chief Judge accused the practitioner of grossly unprofessional conduct. The conflicting narratives by both noble officers of the law sworn to speak truth to power were not helped by the official record of proceedings which was authored and released by the Court – which is a direct participant in any appeal against a contempt committal – and thus subject to the vicissitudes of human error.
To forestall similar situations, enhance the quality of justice administration and, implicitly, enforce optimal standards of behaviour by lawyers and judges alike, JRP recommends the introduction of verbatim and electronic recording of proceedings across courts nationwide. JRP recognises previous and ongoing attempts by son1e courts to introduce this reform but suggests a complimentary and cost-effective solution to an obvious problem in our courts – placing an obligation on parties/legal practitioners to produce the record. This is a solution we have tabled to courts in the Federal and State High Courts in Lagos in a bid to enhance their procedural efficiency.
Essentially, we recommend that parties/legal practitioners be permitted to record proceedings and jointly produce a transcript which will be adopted by the court as the record of each proceeding alongside the audio recordings from which the transcript was produced. This will cost the courts nothing and will allow judges focus entirely on judging. This is a solution that can be replicated nationwide with the advent of smartphones. Smartphones can easily record proceedings in audio, and the audio can be transcribed jointly by the parties. More sophisticated parties will obviously be allowed to utilise more advanced technology or service providers. The adoption of both the transcript and the audio will ensure that, in the case of a dispute as to the content of the transcript, the audio recording will take precedence and provide the most reliable record of events.
We urge your Lordship, in his capacity as Chairman of the National Judicial Council, to consider the above proposals as an extremely urgent matter. As always, we remain committed to supporting your Lordship in reforming the justice sector and are able to support the NJC’s policy implementation processes.