Tell us what this Campaign is all about
This Campaign is about taking ACTION. Lawyers and litigants
across the nation have complained enough, there are all sorts of
reasons lawyers give for offering bribes to court staff/ officials
but we discovered that most of these reasons are cultural and
sometimes baseless. So this campaign is to see whether or not
lawyers are serious about eradicating corruption or just paying lip
service to the idea.
We want lawyers and litigants everywhere to stop giving or
offering bribes in our courts, to resist every form of extortive
behaviour by court staff, insist on prompt and efficient services
and finally to report to us or to the heads of court i.e the Chief
Registrar or any Chief Magistrate or Judge in the Judicial Division
where the act takes place
Why is this campaign only for two weeks? Should lawyers
and litigants continue to give bribes after these two
weeks?
Certainly not; we expect that within these two weeks, lawyers
and litigants will realize that they actually have the power to end
corruption in the Judiciary. Just picture every court user refusing
to be intimidated by a court staff, refusing to give a bribe, will
the court officials then not still do their work? The excuse has
been that “if we do not give them bribes, they will refuse to do
our work” so let us see if that statement is really true.
The main reason for putting a time frame for the campaign is so
that we can collate information on the incidences of corruption in
our courts, we can understand from the information we gather who
causes it or who triggers it and how we can develop policies and
strategies to combat it. The information we received will be shared
with the leaders of NBA Branches, the NBA national body, the Chief
Judges of the States concerned, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, ICPC,
EFCC and other relevant stakeholders
The Campaign seems focused on Lawyers and Litigants,
what about the Court officials themselves are they not part of the
Campaign?
Yes; our campaign is focused on lawyers and litigants and the
reason is simple. During the course of our interaction with the
Chief Judge of Lagos State, her lordship noted that systems have
been put in place in the Lagos State Judiciary to combat corrupt
practices one of which is the oath of secrecy judicial staff swore
to in January 2018 which binds the judicial staff to certain
standards of behaviour, another is that the measures for discipline
and/or sacking corrupt judicial staff have been fast tracked.
Haven put these mechanisms in place; Her lordship then called on
the NBA and litigants to play their part by not corrupting the
Judiciary through offering bribes or saying “THANK YOU”. Her
lordship noted that the word “THANK YOU” had been bastardized hence
the Chief Judge of Lagos State called on the general public to stop
saying “THANK YOU” to Judicial staff but rather demand prompt,
effective and professional services. This is not to say that we
should be rude or to force our way with the judicial staff. We
understand that there may be delays caused by circumstances beyond
our control but as long as we offer no monetary reward and obtain
valid receipts for every transaction our business in our courts
should be done without resort to bribery. We therefore came up with
this campaign as our own way of saying that we are ready to rid our
courts of corrupt elements and vices that erode the fabric of our
communal existence.
What kind of support are you getting from the public or
NBA for this Campaign?
We have written letters to the Chairmen of the 5 Branches of the
NBA in Lagos State so that they can inform their members about this
campaign which begins on the 5th of February and
ends on the 16th of February 2018. We are
hoping for their full cooperation and the cooperation of their
members. We have contacted ICPC and we have also sent out
notification to our Partners; NBA Lawyers in the
Media and used the full advantage of social media to
make this campaign work. We do not however have any formal or
official financial support from any organization or individual
hence we rely on the cooperation of our colleagues in the NBA and
Court users in general.
How does someone get involved in supporting this
campaign?
You can call us and we can tell you more about how to be active
with what we are doing. For this campaign you can volunteer some of
your time to move around the courts in Lagos State (there are about
25 court locations in Lagos State). You can assist us by enabling
others to do so for us as well.
All you have to do is observe, go to the Court registry, watch
how lawyers and litigants conduct their affairs with court
officials, go to the Sherriff department, the probate etc. if
a bribe is requested from you in the course of doing your own
personal business in the court or you see any signs of extortion
taking place and/or you see someone trying to offer a bribe just
send us an sms or watsapp message describing the event. You can
also make a video or audio recording of the event if you are able
to. You can assist the campaign also by being our watchdog in the
court you go to during this period. We would like to note here that
anyone desiring to work with us should please contact us ahead of
time so that we can tell you how to go about this without
disturbing the business of the Court.
It seems this is a campaign taking place only in Lagos
State, why is that?
Yes, we are starting this campaign in Lagos State but our
members across the country have been encouraged to run this
campaign simultaneously across the nation. The reason why this
campaign is more prominent in Lagos is because we have the full
support of the Chief Judge of Lagos State to go round the courts to
ensure compliance with certain protocols that her lordship has put
in place to eradicate corruption in the Lagos State Judiciary.
How can people reach FIACIJ if they have a report,
questions or a complaint?
For now you can reach us via Watsapp on 08065172866, Sms
09054832930 and on facebook at
www.facebook.com/fiacij
Tell us what this Campaign is all about
This Campaign is about taking ACTION. Lawyers and litigants
across the nation have complained enough, there are all sorts of
reasons lawyers give for offering bribes to court staff/ officials
but we discovered that most of these reasons are cultural and
sometimes baseless. So this campaign is to see whether or not
lawyers are serious about eradicating corruption or just paying lip
service to the idea.
We want lawyers and litigants everywhere to stop giving or
offering bribes in our courts, to resist every form of extortive
behaviour by court staff, insist on prompt and efficient services
and finally to report to us or to the heads of court i.e the Chief
Registrar or any Chief Magistrate or Judge in the Judicial Division
where the act takes place
Why is this campaign only for two weeks? Should lawyers
and litigants continue to give bribes after these two
weeks?
Certainly not; we expect that within these two weeks, lawyers
and litigants will realize that they actually have the power to end
corruption in the Judiciary. Just picture every court user refusing
to be intimidated by a court staff, refusing to give a bribe, will
the court officials then not still do their work? The excuse has
been that “if we do not give them bribes, they will refuse to do
our work” so let us see if that statement is really true.
The main reason for putting a time frame for the campaign is so
that we can collate information on the incidences of corruption in
our courts, we can understand from the information we gather who
causes it or who triggers it and how we can develop policies and
strategies to combat it. The information we received will be shared
with the leaders of NBA Branches, the NBA national body, the Chief
Judges of the States concerned, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, ICPC,
EFCC and other relevant stakeholders
The Campaign seems focused on Lawyers and Litigants,
what about the Court officials themselves are they not part of the
Campaign?
Yes; our campaign is focused on lawyers and litigants and the
reason is simple. During the course of our interaction with the
Chief Judge of Lagos State, her lordship noted that systems have
been put in place in the Lagos State Judiciary to combat corrupt
practices one of which is the oath of secrecy judicial staff swore
to in January 2018 which binds the judicial staff to certain
standards of behaviour, another is that the measures for discipline
and/or sacking corrupt judicial staff have been fast tracked.
Haven put these mechanisms in place; Her lordship then called on
the NBA and litigants to play their part by not corrupting the
Judiciary through offering bribes or saying “THANK YOU”. Her
lordship noted that the word “THANK YOU” had been bastardized hence
the Chief Judge of Lagos State called on the general public to stop
saying “THANK YOU” to Judicial staff but rather demand prompt,
effective and professional services. This is not to say that we
should be rude or to force our way with the judicial staff. We
understand that there may be delays caused by circumstances beyond
our control but as long as we offer no monetary reward and obtain
valid receipts for every transaction our business in our courts
should be done without resort to bribery. We therefore came up with
this campaign as our own way of saying that we are ready to rid our
courts of corrupt elements and vices that erode the fabric of our
communal existence.
What kind of support are you getting from the public or
NBA for this Campaign?
We have written letters to the Chairmen of the 5 Branches of the
NBA in Lagos State so that they can inform their members about this
campaign which begins on the 5th of February and
ends on the 16th of February 2018. We are
hoping for their full cooperation and the cooperation of their
members. We have contacted ICPC and we have also sent out
notification to our Partners; NBA Lawyers in the
Media and used the full advantage of social media to
make this campaign work. We do not however have any formal or
official financial support from any organization or individual
hence we rely on the cooperation of our colleagues in the NBA and
Court users in general.
How does someone get involved in supporting this
campaign?
You can call us and we can tell you more about how to be active
with what we are doing. For this campaign you can volunteer some of
your time to move around the courts in Lagos State (there are about
25 court locations in Lagos State). You can assist us by enabling
others to do so for us as well.
All you have to do is observe, go to the Court registry, watch
how lawyers and litigants conduct their affairs with court
officials, go to the Sherriff department, the probate etc. if
a bribe is requested from you in the course of doing your own
personal business in the court or you see any signs of extortion
taking place and/or you see someone trying to offer a bribe just
send us an sms or watsapp message describing the event. You can
also make a video or audio recording of the event if you are able
to. You can assist the campaign also by being our watchdog in the
court you go to during this period. We would like to note here that
anyone desiring to work with us should please contact us ahead of
time so that we can tell you how to go about this without
disturbing the business of the Court.
It seems this is a campaign taking place only in Lagos
State, why is that?
Yes, we are starting this campaign in Lagos State but our
members across the country have been encouraged to run this
campaign simultaneously across the nation. The reason why this
campaign is more prominent in Lagos is because we have the full
support of the Chief Judge of Lagos State to go round the courts to
ensure compliance with certain protocols that her lordship has put
in place to eradicate corruption in the Lagos State Judiciary.
How can people reach FIACIJ if they have a report,
questions or a complaint?
For now you can reach us via Watsapp on 08065172866, Sms
09054832930 and on facebook at
www.facebook.com/fiacij
Read more https://nairalaw.com/fiacij-begins-a-two-weeks-stop-giving-bribes-campaign-across-the-nation/