Africa’s leading Legal Technologies Company, LawPavilion has launched a fresh innovation aimed at helping the Judiciary to properly monitor judgments from the Court of First Instance (usually High Courts) that have gone on appeal to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
Speaking at a Press Conference, Mr Ope Olugasa, the Managing Director of LawPavilion pointed out that while working closely with the Court of Appeal, the Appellate Feedback System for Judges (AFSJ) was conceptualized and developed by the Company in response to the obvious need by Judges of Courts of First Instance to be promptly notified when matters they have pronounced upon which went on appeal have been decided upon by appellate Courts. He stated that this new innovation was unveiled at the Biennial Judges’ Conference organised by the National Judicial Institute (NJI), in Abuja.
The AFSJ is an unprecedented innovative solution that proposes to celebrate the cerebral skill and sagacity of High Court Judges who adjudicate and pronounce upon millions of cases across the Federation, to have their decisions upheld all the way to the Supreme Court. This exhilaration and sense of accomplishment is part of what the AFSJ seeks to accomplish. The AFSJ is an ingenious attempt to give Judges an impartial feedback on their performance such that Judges are personally motivated to consider all facts and the Law before making pronouncements on the matter before them. This would greatly enhance the quality of judgments emanating from the Courts, even at appellate levels as the pronouncements of the Court of Appeal that have been appealed would also be captured in the system.
Speaking further, he stated that a solution like the AFSJ is the needed incentive to facilitate massive improvement and support for the judiciary, especially from the Executive as results from the AFSJ can serve as a testament to the quality of Judges on the Bench in a particular State. Furthermore, the AFSJ could ultimately be used in collating results across States and generate a series of indicators as to areas of improvement in the Judiciary. For example, at the end of a Legal Year and based on the number of Judgments that are upturned or upheld, the system can generate results which indicate which State of the Federation has successfully secured the upholding of criminal matters or civil matters of a particular nature. Such results will in turn be very useful for commercial investors who can almost predict the outcomes of disputes that go to court in a particular State. Such data is independent and can subsequently be relied upon by State Governments and the Administrators of the Judiciary to come up with tailored training solutions to adequately equip Judges and Magistrates within their jurisdiction.
With the rich information that can be mined from the AFSJ, it is believed that the rating of the Nigerian Judiciary in international circles will be greatly enhanced as there will be cold data to indicate how often matters of a certain nature are upheld and this gives a measure of comfort to foreign investors to invest in Nigeria and all sectors that have been significant developed through the pronouncements of the Courts.
Mr. Olugasa was optimistic that having demonstrated the rich possibilities of the AFSJ, the Administrators of the Judiciary at both the States and Federal levels would be at the forefront of procuring this new innovation for the State and Federal High Courts (and even the Magistrate Courts) as this would be an excellent way to assist the National Judicial Council (NJC) in its evaluation of the performance of Judges. Moreover, the data gleaned from the AFSJ would be instrumental for the administrators of the Judiciary in profiling suitable candidates for appointment into various levels within the Judiciary. Such information would guide the Judicial Commissions to source for and equip prospective Judges/Magistrates with skills either in the areas where the State appears to be very strong and exceptional or in areas where the judgments from that State has consistently been upturned and thus in need of some improvement.
Indeed it is a new dawn in the Nigerian judiciary with LawPavilion’s newest innovative solution, which will place Nigerian Judiciary on the global map in an unprecedented style.