This was even as the legal body has accused the National Judicial Council, NJC, of paying lip-service to the fight against corruption in the judiciary, noting that the council, “in that regard is part of the problem.”
Consequently, NBA while imploring the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Aloma Muktar to quickly address the issue of institutional decay in the judiciary, said it has also resolved that from now on, “judicial vacancies be advertised so that qualified legal practitioners may apply as opposed to the current disgusting situation whereby cronies, relatives and adopted sons and daughters of a select few are appointed to the exclusion of otherwise meritorious candidates and corrosion of an effective Justice Delivery Sectors.”
In a 15-page communiqué issued at the end its 52nd annual general conference in Abuja, the legal body decried that “there are too many cases of clear violation of ethics in the legal profession which have culminated into ambulance chasing, legal practitioners arguing their cases in the media: there is thus the urgent necessity for bad eggs in the profession to be disciplined and shown the exit door.
“That corruption in the judiciary equally connotes corruption by lawyers and there is a collective responsibility between the bar and bench to stem corruption to attain the goal of justice.
“Regarding corruption, the judges are not the sole actors. Other accomplices or participes criminis include lawyers, court room staff, friends, family etc and any attempt by a lawyer to compromise a judge is not only unethical but criminal and amounts to corruption.
“The NJC is advised to monitor the performance of judges through input from the local NBA branches; there is a need for NBA to look into cases of frivolous filing of cases, applications or processes.
“The downward spiral in the quality of legal education offered by Nigerian universities, especially new institutions will no longer be tolerated and must be halted”.
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