The primary responsibility of every judicial system is to protect the rights and freedom of the people as well as ensure that they have access to justice without compromise. To achieve this, efforts should be sustained to strengthen the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judicial system.

The primary objective of the principles of separation of power in a democratic government is to ensure that the various arms of government operate independently and that persons operating these arms are not the same so as to avoid arbitrariness. This separation principle is, perhaps, more underlined in the judiciary which has the exclusive and important task of interpreting laws and punishing law breakers in order to maintain a stable society.

The concern for justice and existence of an impartial Judiciary becomes a sine-quo-non in a country such as Nigeria and some other African countries where over sixty percent of the populace have united level of consciousness, enlightenment and control over various activities that influence and affect their lives. This often hinders them from exercising their rights.

However, while it is true that the Judiciary, over the years, has delivered land mark judgments that clearly served the cause of justice, especially in election matters, which were lauded by the citizenry across the country and beyond, it is equally true that some verdicts from various courts have left many people, including some legal luminaries, scratching their heads.

Over the years, conflicting judgments from courts have remained a serious challenge to the country’s judicial system. Sometimes, judgments of lower courts, reversed by the Appeal court, are upheld by the Supreme Court and in some cases verdicts upheld by Appeal Courts were reversed by the apex Court. While this is normal in even judicial system, it still creates room for questions.

Again, today correctional centres and police cells are overcrowded with people awaiting trial for various offences. Some of them have become hopeless with frustration, not because they are guilty but because they cannot prove their innocence without standing trial in a law court, while others have died in detection without being convicted of any offence. This situation becomes lamentable when viewed from the perceptive of the basic principles of law which holds a suspect innocent until proved otherwise by a court.

Similarly, the length of time it takes to dispose some cases has become a source of discouragement to many with full understanding that justice delayed is justice denied. Some people in the society are exploiting these apparent lapses to infringe and deprive others of their fundamental human rights.

Unfortunately, infrastructural deficiencies have equally undermined the search for a fair trial in several ways because justice can hardly be speedy when judges, lawyers and judicial workers lack adequate and modern facilities that would enable them to function effectively.

It is equally important to understand that stable political future will only be guaranteed if the judicial institutions are allowed to carry out their duties without interference. Legal practitioners should be reminded that the judiciary remains the last hope of the common man. They should see their profession more as a vocation where the protection of the right of an individual should be placed above and beyond every other consideration. There is also need to ensure prompt circulation of court verdicts to other divisions of the court to engender uniformity and consistency in decisions and court orders to eliminate instances of conflicting verdicts as well as discourage the practice of filing multiple cross appeals against a judgment to avoid abuse of the  judicial process.

The National Judicial Council-NJC on its part should be bold and firm in sanctioning any judge who attempts to subvert the cause of justice. After all, injustice anywhere is a serious threat to justice everywhere.

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