For quite a while, appearing in court has shown the sour relationship that exists between some of the members of the bar (lawyers) and some of the members of the bench (judges), which sometimes leads to unnecessary arguments between the bar and the bench. I had felt that some members of the bar, especially some Senior Advocates of Nigeria, whom I have experienced having hot arguments with some judges in some proceedings, might have felt that they are very senior members of the bar while the judges too might have felt that it is an insolence and disrespect to them for members of the bar to engage in such arguments challenging their courts or the way that they control their courts. All of these are on ‘who is senior to another?!’, the bench or the bar?! Which are personal? However, this paper is of the respectful view that the interest of justice of the cases before the court and which the lawyers are prosecuting i.e. the interest of the litigant should be the priority. More so, where the court refuses to hear the matter, who suffers is the litigant. And where the lawyers say that they will not appear in court to prosecute the matter, who suffers is the litigant, whereas, the interest of justice in my humble view, should supersede all of the ‘who seniors who?!’ mentality, hence this paper.
It has been quite a while that the judiciary has been suffering from the disobedience of its orders especially by the executive arm of government, with due respect. This issue is still on and the bar and the bench do not feel so much concerned to gather strength and full cooperation together to fight this menace in the interest of justice and upholding the rule of law and judicial independence. The court has long been losing its status as the last hope of the common man. Before members of the public, courts are of no much importance like before. This impression has made the status of lawyers in the society too to face a great embarrassment in the Nigerian communities. To this extent, unlike before when people were very happy that their children studied law and were practicing as lawyers, this day, people openly reject their children being lawyers! In fact, the worst in-law to have is a lawyer, I might be wrong! It moves no mountain to state that you are a lawyer! Even lawyers today suffer violation of their rights to dignity of their human person among other human rights. So, why then must there be fight or quarrel between the bar and the bench?! I humbly ask?!
One can imagine what the situation will be where the two ministers in the temple of justice quarrel and take to personal interest to defeat the interest of justice! The court (or judge) is established mainly for the purpose of rendering justice and the lawyers as ministers in the temple of justice must cooperate together to achieve justice for all.
Furthermore, it has been observed that to some extent, some judges, with due respect, are unwilling to even share pleasantries or some slight jokes with the bar perhaps due to the enormous cases on their daily cause lists, yet, I am of the respectful views that the little time spent by the bench with the bar in the open court only strengthens the relationship between the bar and the bench, hence, the recommendation for its continuity. The bar and the bench must maintain a cordial relationship always if justice must be seen or manifest to have been dispensed. Much more necessary to say is the fact that the annual legal year organised annually by the courts where the bar and the bench meet to further discuss the affairs of the nation is not enough to strengthen this cordial relationship. They must all find more time in the open court to share some past experiences and joyful moments. There are young lawyers who would also learn from these experiences from both the bar and the bench including the law school students available in the open court on the court’s attachment of the Nigerian Law School.
I am also of the firm view that if this cordial relationship is achieved, the petitions against the bench by the bar and those against the bar by the bench will reduce drastically. I have observed at a proceedings in court where a judge of a court and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria were in an exchange of words and the situation became so hot that the judge ordered the Senior Advocate to remove his wig and to proceed to the dock and explain why he should not be sent to jail for contempt of the court. There and then, the court became much more angered when the learned silk refused to purge himself out of his contempt! Therefore, this kind of situation in my humble view, is ugly and must not be allowed to continue to occur if the bar and the bench must move on peacefully, in the interest of justice. The Nigerian Bar Association too has great roles to play towards achieving this goal of cordial relationship between the bar and the bench as provided by its Constitution.
Finally, justice is in need of both the bar and the bench especially at this trying time. Therefore, both the bar and the bench must eschew their personal interest for the interest of justice, as justice is really desired by all especially the common man. Also, where justice is seen by the common man as injustice to all and therefore, abandons both the bar and the bench as a result of the continuous disagreement existing between the bar and the bench, then, the bar will likely be out of practice, the bench will likely have no role to play, the courts will likely be closed down as they will be without any function to perform anymore and the judiciary will likely become irrelevant in the arms of government and the government will likely become tyrannical and the society will likely become lawless and chaos, jungle justice and other serious criminalities will likely take over the entire civil societies and the nation will then likely suffer and become inhabitable! May God forbid bad thing! That is why it is very important for a relationship that will always bring the bar and the bench together for the purpose of manifest justice for all, without fear or favor!
Email: hameed_ajibola@yahoo.com
