Lawyers in Nigeria under the aegis of Lawyers Network Against Corruption (LAWNAC) have organised a platform where corrupt judicial officials will be named and shamed for perpetrating injustice.
LAWNAC Program Officer, Mr. Chika Igwe told Daily Trust that ‘the Injustice Awards’ was designed to identify and showcase individuals within the judiciary, whose actions and inactions frustrates or pervert the course of justice nationwide.
He said the quarterly event would be conferred on the affected judicial officers in seven categories which includes: Lateness, Truancy, Long Adjournments, Obtuse Rulings/Judgments, Most Corrupt Registry, Judicial Rascality and Conflict of Interest.
“LAWNAC therefore called for the nominations of corrupt judicial officials to be conferred with Injustice Awards through discreet nominations to be marked ‘Injustice Awards Nomination’ and should be submitted to ‘ [email protected] ‘ , containing the name of the judge/magistrate/registrar/judicial staff, court, judicial division and state.
According to him, “The nominator should also include a statement of the reasons for the nomination, copies of documents including memos, rulings and/or judgments by the judge or judicial staff and any other information relevant to the above.”
“All submissions will be thoroughly vetted and verified. Nominations for the 3rd quarter of 2021 should be made on or before 30th July, 2021. All submissions received after this date will be considered for the next quarter. Winners and runners-Up for this quarter will be announced at the end of every quarter.”
Igwe said in addition to this, LAWNAC will also initiate disciplinary proceedings against the affected officers.
He noted that the intervention seeks to promote efficiency and accountability within the judiciary, incorporating whistle-blowing, accountability and anti-corruption mechanisms to help improve detection of corruption in the judiciary.
Igwe said the identities of nominators will remain confidential unless the nominator elects otherwise where disciplinary proceedings are instituted.
