In the practice of the law, the roles played by the judiciary
cannot be underestimated. Also, it has been observed by the writer
of this paper that there are lots of things that either affect or
control the reasoning of the judiciary- in this case, the judges
who sit to perform judicial roles such as settlement of disputes
between persons or persons and government or different levels of
governments, hence, the writing of this paper to give support and
or credence to the proposition of ‘Judicial Reasoning
Method’.
In Nigerian Legal Method and the Nigerian Legal System, there
are sources upon which laws have been made to exist
jurisprudentially, these systems and methodologies though, were
transplanted from the United Kingdom/England-here in after referred
to as UK and the United State of America-herein after referred to
as USA-, it remains the truth of the facts that Nigeria as of the
moment, cannot use her present laws and practice as though it would
have been effective when compared with the UK and USA.
In Nigeria, there are lots of set-backs which are enough to
affect the reasoning of our judiciary. For instance, our judges
have to write in long hands, the situation which can affect the
manner with which the judges spend their times on a case, except
that the case will have to be extra-meritorious. Also, the
facilities in our Nigerian courts are not enough to make judicial
functions easily performed. One can imagine a court room without
air conditions or sufficient fans to ventilate the atmosphere or
gadget to make voices either by the judge or the lawyers or the
litigants audible in courts or recorder to instantly record
proceedings in courts or well furnished sitting furniture to make
sitting for judges more comfortable. All these might be sufficient
to annoy a judge to consider a case before him as undeserving and
awarding costs against the Plaintiff or Applicant. Emoluments for
the judiciary are another shortfall.
Having considered the above set-backs, the writer of this paper
suggests that the Nigerian law school should inculcate either a
topic or sub-topic in one of its courses of study titled
‘Judicial Reasoning Method’. Though, this
suggestion might look so simple and unimportant, however, the
writer of this paper hopes that there will be a time when this
proposition will be a reality. The writer of this paper is
convinced that his proposition will one day be a reality also
considering the facts that even those doctrines or principles or
propositions of Plato, Aristotle, Soctrates, among other
philosophers of laws and humanities did not just manifest the day
they were propounded rather, it took much determination,
conviction, among others to be actualized. Therefore, our young
lawyers need to understand this proposition and the need to
understand and study it both in academics and practice, especially
that there are some of those law school students who are called to
bar and enrolled after they have studied abroad, e.g. in UK and
USA, so that there will not be any misunderstanding in the way and
manner Nigerian judicial system and methods are in practice.
Furthermore, the various causes of actions that necessitate
institution of cases in Nigerian courts defer from those that are
instituted in courts of UK and USA. So, there are possibilities of
missing the links if one continues to compare the situations in
Nigeria with situations in UK and USA or any other country.
Therefore, every country is with its own system or judicial
reasoning method.
Also, the practice and procedures of Nigerian Courts are now
different from the previous practice and procedures. For instance,
the Court of Appeal Rules, 2016, has
restricted the number of pages to be filed as brief of argument to
the maximum number of thirty-five (35) for Appellant
and Respondent’s Brief of Arguments. See: Order 19 Rule 6(a)
of the Rules and a Reply Brief must not exceed fifteen (15)
pages.
Furthermore, lawyers who give legal opinions to their clients
too should understand and or put into consideration,
‘Judicial Reasoning Method’ of our
Nigerian courts as they give their legal opinions to their clients
so that their clients do not run into costs and or sanctions by the
courts. More so, in civil proceedings, various academic books have
encouraged that there are some preliminary issues that should be
considered before commencing suits in civil courts. Nevertheless,
it is observed by the writer of this paper that consideration of
‘Judicial Reasoning Method’ is exempted.
It is suggested here in this paper that the ‘Judicial
Reasoning Method’ should be included among those
preliminary considerations. More so, some lawyers, including Senior
Advocates of Nigeria, have been sanctioned as a result of the suits
they file and or instituted on behalf of their clients, especially
by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the situation which is really
pathetic.
Also, it is believed that the reader of this paper would send
his comments, views and opinions about the propositions made in
this paper by the writer of this paper, so as to jointly deliberate
on the need for a ‘Judicial Reasoning
Method’ in the Nigerian Law Studies and Practice. The
e-mail of the writer of this paper is as contained at the bottom
page of this paper. This is necessitated by the need to share from
other colleagues’ experiences, more so that the position being made
by the writer of this paper will have more acceptability and
credence if joint views are made to decide the relevance of the
proposition.
Finally, it is believed that the Nigerian Law School authority
would consider the need to inculcate a topic or a sub-topic titled
as ‘Judicial Reasoning Method’ into the
Nigerian Law School’s curriculum and syllabus, so that students
undergoing their law training programme would have understood the
judicial reasoning of our judges and of course, our Nigerian courts
which will in the end, enhance the success of legal practice. Also,
the Nigerian Universities may also consider the need to inculcate
the ‘Judicial Reasoning Method’ as
worthwhile for study in our Nigerian Universities. The National
Universities Commission, the Council of Legal Education as well as
the relevant regulatory bodies in the legal profession are also
called upon to facilitate the success of this proposition, so that
there will be a thorough participation of all stakeholders in the
legal profession.
e-mail: hameed_ajibola@yahoo.com
In the practice of the law, the roles played by the judiciary
cannot be underestimated. Also, it has been observed by the writer
of this paper that there are lots of things that either affect or
control the reasoning of the judiciary- in this case, the judges
who sit to perform judicial roles such as settlement of disputes
between persons or persons and government or different levels of
governments, hence, the writing of this paper to give support and
or credence to the proposition of ‘Judicial Reasoning
Method’.
In Nigerian Legal Method and the Nigerian Legal System, there
are sources upon which laws have been made to exist
jurisprudentially, these systems and methodologies though, were
transplanted from the United Kingdom/England-here in after referred
to as UK and the United State of America-herein after referred to
as USA-, it remains the truth of the facts that Nigeria as of the
moment, cannot use her present laws and practice as though it would
have been effective when compared with the UK and USA.
In Nigeria, there are lots of set-backs which are enough to
affect the reasoning of our judiciary. For instance, our judges
have to write in long hands, the situation which can affect the
manner with which the judges spend their times on a case, except
that the case will have to be extra-meritorious. Also, the
facilities in our Nigerian courts are not enough to make judicial
functions easily performed. One can imagine a court room without
air conditions or sufficient fans to ventilate the atmosphere or
gadget to make voices either by the judge or the lawyers or the
litigants audible in courts or recorder to instantly record
proceedings in courts or well furnished sitting furniture to make
sitting for judges more comfortable. All these might be sufficient
to annoy a judge to consider a case before him as undeserving and
awarding costs against the Plaintiff or Applicant. Emoluments for
the judiciary are another shortfall.
Having considered the above set-backs, the writer of this paper
suggests that the Nigerian law school should inculcate either a
topic or sub-topic in one of its courses of study titled
‘Judicial Reasoning Method’. Though, this
suggestion might look so simple and unimportant, however, the
writer of this paper hopes that there will be a time when this
proposition will be a reality. The writer of this paper is
convinced that his proposition will one day be a reality also
considering the facts that even those doctrines or principles or
propositions of Plato, Aristotle, Soctrates, among other
philosophers of laws and humanities did not just manifest the day
they were propounded rather, it took much determination,
conviction, among others to be actualized. Therefore, our young
lawyers need to understand this proposition and the need to
understand and study it both in academics and practice, especially
that there are some of those law school students who are called to
bar and enrolled after they have studied abroad, e.g. in UK and
USA, so that there will not be any misunderstanding in the way and
manner Nigerian judicial system and methods are in practice.
Furthermore, the various causes of actions that necessitate
institution of cases in Nigerian courts defer from those that are
instituted in courts of UK and USA. So, there are possibilities of
missing the links if one continues to compare the situations in
Nigeria with situations in UK and USA or any other country.
Therefore, every country is with its own system or judicial
reasoning method.
Also, the practice and procedures of Nigerian Courts are now
different from the previous practice and procedures. For instance,
the Court of Appeal Rules, 2016, has
restricted the number of pages to be filed as brief of argument to
the maximum number of thirty-five (35) for Appellant
and Respondent’s Brief of Arguments. See: Order 19 Rule 6(a)
of the Rules and a Reply Brief must not exceed fifteen (15)
pages.
Furthermore, lawyers who give legal opinions to their clients
too should understand and or put into consideration,
‘Judicial Reasoning Method’ of our
Nigerian courts as they give their legal opinions to their clients
so that their clients do not run into costs and or sanctions by the
courts. More so, in civil proceedings, various academic books have
encouraged that there are some preliminary issues that should be
considered before commencing suits in civil courts. Nevertheless,
it is observed by the writer of this paper that consideration of
‘Judicial Reasoning Method’ is exempted.
It is suggested here in this paper that the ‘Judicial
Reasoning Method’ should be included among those
preliminary considerations. More so, some lawyers, including Senior
Advocates of Nigeria, have been sanctioned as a result of the suits
they file and or instituted on behalf of their clients, especially
by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the situation which is really
pathetic.
Also, it is believed that the reader of this paper would send
his comments, views and opinions about the propositions made in
this paper by the writer of this paper, so as to jointly deliberate
on the need for a ‘Judicial Reasoning
Method’ in the Nigerian Law Studies and Practice. The
e-mail of the writer of this paper is as contained at the bottom
page of this paper. This is necessitated by the need to share from
other colleagues’ experiences, more so that the position being made
by the writer of this paper will have more acceptability and
credence if joint views are made to decide the relevance of the
proposition.
Finally, it is believed that the Nigerian Law School authority
would consider the need to inculcate a topic or a sub-topic titled
as ‘Judicial Reasoning Method’ into the
Nigerian Law School’s curriculum and syllabus, so that students
undergoing their law training programme would have understood the
judicial reasoning of our judges and of course, our Nigerian courts
which will in the end, enhance the success of legal practice. Also,
the Nigerian Universities may also consider the need to inculcate
the ‘Judicial Reasoning Method’ as
worthwhile for study in our Nigerian Universities. The National
Universities Commission, the Council of Legal Education as well as
the relevant regulatory bodies in the legal profession are also
called upon to facilitate the success of this proposition, so that
there will be a thorough participation of all stakeholders in the
legal profession.
e-mail: hameed_ajibola@yahoo.com