Some eminent lawyers in Lagos on Monday expressed mixed feelings to the setting of an annual target of 24 judgments for judges in the country.
The reports that the National Judicial Council (NJC) recently set the target for judges.
It will take effect from 2014.
The target emanated from the recommendation of the Performance and Evaluation Committee of the council headed by Justice Emmanuel Ayoola.
Ayoola is a retired justice of the Supreme Court and former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
In an interview, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), described the target as unrealistic.
Akeredolu said that there was more to the task of a judge than meeting such a target.
According to him, the main focus of the NJC should be to provide orientation that will assist judges in the dispensation of their duties.
“I think the main task of the NJC should be to ensure that judges have a sense of duty, rather than setting unrealistic targets which will put undue pressure on them.
” I am certain that there are areas today in the country, where judges do not even have up to 24 cases in a year; so, I wonder what will become of this target for such judges.
“The idea should be to closely monitor our judges and ensure they possess a sense of purpose in the dispensation of their duties,” he said.
The former NBA president told NAN that such a target could only lead to hasty delivery of judgments.
Also, the Chairman of the NBA, Lagos Branch, Mr Alex Muoka, said that setting such a target for judges was not a solution to court congestion.
Muoka noted that some lawyers and litigants often hindered speedy justice delivery through frivolous applications and other tactics.
“I do not see how this target set by the NJC will help to solve any problem in the judiciary because most of our judges are willing to work.
“The problem stems from some lawyers and litigants, who employ various tactics to waste precious judicial time by filing frivolous applications and seeking unnecessary adjournments” Muoka said.
According to him, delivery of judgments are largely determined by the circumstances surrounding the conduct of court proceedings.
However, a social critic and lawyer, Mr Festus Keyamo, described the target as a welcome evelopment.
He said that such a target was liberal, adding that it was necessary for all judges in the country to adhere to it in a bid to decongest courts.
He noted that the target stipulated an average of two judgments monthly for all judges, and urged that every judge should endeavour to meet the requirement.
A constitutional lawyer, Mr Mike Agbamuche, also endorsed the NJC decision.
According to him, it will serve as a wake-up call for some judges.
Agbamuche said that while most judges were diligent, some exhibited laxity.
He, however, noted that industrial actions, power failure and transfer of judges could militate against speedy dispensation of justice.
He, therefore, urged the NJC to consider such factors when giving out sanctions for judges who might de default.
