Judiciary needs internal cleansing, says Babalakin SAN

The Chairman, Resort Group, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), has urged
the judiciary to cleanse itself rather than blaming it challenges
on other arms of government.

Babalakin said this on Thursday at the public presentation of a
book, titled, “New Developments in Law and Practice in Nigeria,”
written to mark the 35th anniversary of a former Secretary-General
of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dele Adesina (SAN), as a lawyer,
and the 25th and 10th anniversary of his law firm and as a SAN,
respectively.

Babalakin said, “The legal profession must heal itself. We can’t
come here and continue to say that we are not happy with the
profession, when we have not actively participated in changing the
course of the profession. The profession today, sadly, is
incongruous. I see senior lawyers who are blessed but their
audience is the court. It is very anomalous to have criteria that
make it more beautiful to become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria than
to be a High Court judge. We, senior advocates, go to the High
Court judges to make our cases. If the audience is not better than
you, you are wasting your time.”

He added that the judiciary must be institutionalised if the
country was serious at protecting justice.

Babalakin also faulted some senior lawyers for abusing court
processes because of their stature in the profession.

He said, “I was in court on Tuesday. We started a trial and a
senior lawyer stood up and told the court that although the case
was for the next three days, he would not be able to come on the
last day because he was going for a social event. I was alarmed
that he could stand up and tell the court this when the dates had
been agreed, that he was otherwise engaged.

“Of course, the court ignored him but I was told by my colleague
that some courts would have yielded to him. Now that would not have
happened if he had a relatively big firm. But since he was able to
continue, he must have trained enough people, who could step into
his shoes and continue. If he hadn’t done that, then he’s not a
successful lawyer.”

The Chairman, Resort Group, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), has urged
the judiciary to cleanse itself rather than blaming it challenges
on other arms of government.

Babalakin said this on Thursday at the public presentation of a
book, titled, “New Developments in Law and Practice in Nigeria,”
written to mark the 35th anniversary of a former Secretary-General
of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dele Adesina (SAN), as a lawyer,
and the 25th and 10th anniversary of his law firm and as a SAN,
respectively.

Babalakin said, “The legal profession must heal itself. We can’t
come here and continue to say that we are not happy with the
profession, when we have not actively participated in changing the
course of the profession. The profession today, sadly, is
incongruous. I see senior lawyers who are blessed but their
audience is the court. It is very anomalous to have criteria that
make it more beautiful to become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria than
to be a High Court judge. We, senior advocates, go to the High
Court judges to make our cases. If the audience is not better than
you, you are wasting your time.”

He added that the judiciary must be institutionalised if the
country was serious at protecting justice.

Babalakin also faulted some senior lawyers for abusing court
processes because of their stature in the profession.

He said, “I was in court on Tuesday. We started a trial and a
senior lawyer stood up and told the court that although the case
was for the next three days, he would not be able to come on the
last day because he was going for a social event. I was alarmed
that he could stand up and tell the court this when the dates had
been agreed, that he was otherwise engaged.

“Of course, the court ignored him but I was told by my colleague
that some courts would have yielded to him. Now that would not have
happened if he had a relatively big firm. But since he was able to
continue, he must have trained enough people, who could step into
his shoes and continue. If he hadn’t done that, then he’s not a
successful lawyer.”