The courts in Nigeria have proceeded on their annual long vacation despite the logjam of cases and plethora of opposition voices against the decision.
Justices of the Supreme Court commenced their annual vacation on Monday, July 19, 2021, and will resume for the Legal Year 2021/2022 in September, while judges of the Court of Appeal and Federal High Court commenced theirs from Monday, July 26, which will last till September 17.
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Other courts such as the National Industrial Court of Nigeria also commenced their vacation from Friday, July 30, to last till September 27, while the FCT High Court judges who commenced their vacation on Friday, July 23, will be off duty until Friday, September 3. State judiciaries also announced their respective vacations.
At this time of the year, that is July to September, it is customary for courts to shut down to give judges opportunity to rest, although whether the bulk of work for judges permits such rest is a different matter altogether.
By procedural rules of the superior courts, the long vacation of judges of various judiciaries nationwide lasts about eight weeks and is usually fixed for between middle of July and September each year.
During this period, only a few designated courts sit to adjudicate urgent matters to be taken by vacation judges.
Most of the announced period of vacation for federal courts are for about two months.
For its part, judges of the Lagos State Judiciary will only observe half of this year’s vacation, according to the Chief Judge, Justice Kareem Alogba. This is to enable the judges to clear the backlog of cases due to the #EndSARS protest last year and the strike embarked upon by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN).
Following the resumption of the courts after JUSUN called off its strike, stakeholders believe that the judges have already had enough rest this year.
In Abuja, two vacation judges were appointed by the high court to deal with pending matters such as breach of fundamental human rights with urgency.
In Abuja, courts have taken important cases such as the application by 12 associates of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho; the application by a former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, seeking to stop the takeover of property linked to him; and the application for the enforcement of the agreement for N46bn compensation over oil spill between Shell and Eleme community in Rivers State.
Although such court sittings are ongoing, with the impact of the vacation on the already congested courts, lawyers have been criticising the long vacation.
According to Sebastine Hon (SAN), there is no need for this year’s annual vacation because the judges themselves have been forced to rest from the COVID-19 pandemic, #EndSARS protest and the judicial workers’ strike.
Hon hinged his view on the plight of hapless litigants and several persons in custody and as a patriotic sacrifice to the nation’s judiciary.
Immediate past Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikorodu branch, Bayo Akinlade, said the judges should go on their annual vacation if they wanted to go since the practice had already been institutionalised.
He, however, added that, “It will be good for the general public if they (judges) can sacrifice this time around so as to help litigants.”
Joseph Otteh of Access to Justice, and Deji Ajare, the Project Director of the group are of the view that the vacation will further delay the consideration of important cases in court.
They submitted that in addition to the enforced closures, judges also enjoyed at least four additional vacations: Christmas, Easter, as well as two Muslim vacations, adding that when the various vacations were summed up, many courts would have been closed for business for up to three months. When the periods of disruption are added to this figure, some courts would have been closed for business for a period of more than five months during a legal year.
Otteh said, “The lengths of time various heads of courts have appropriated to shut down courts for vacation purposes is of great concern. It would mean, in some cases; that courts would be effectively shut down for close to six months in the legal year.”
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