SPECIAL REPORT: Lagos court where tiny courtrooms impede justice

By
Olamide Fadipe^[1]

Israel Usman pushed his way through a mass of robed bodies at
the door as he struggled to enter the courtroom of the Federal High
Court in Lagos, early November. It was a few minutes past 11 a.m.
and the registrar had called out, from a file he was clutching,
“Suit number FHC/1/311C between The Inspector General of Police and
Segun Ode and others.” The case involved the police and 57 youth
accused of homosexual activities last year and Mr Usman was
representing most of the defendants.

The courtrooms at the Federal High Court in Lagos are, arguably,
among the tiniest and most uncomfortable in the country. On every
given day, just about two dozen people are seated in the room while
the rest – lawyers, plaintiffs, defendants, journalists – are left
with little option but to stand around the court’s door. It is not
unusual for a lawyer, whose case had been called up, to stand
before the judge, breathless, after forcing himself through the
crowd at the door.

Sometimes a lawyer has to convince his colleagues that it was
his case the registrar just called before he is allowed passage,
which was what happened to Mr Usman and his two junior
colleagues.

Finally, having gained entrance, Mr Usman, standing at the back
of the courtroom, announced that 46 out of his 57 clients were in
court and ready for their arraignment.

There was a stunned silence.

And then the judge announced that his court was already bursting
at the seams and could not accommodate that many people.

“I only have 36 names before me, there is no way this case can
go on in this court,’’ Rilwan Aikawa, the judge, said.

‘’We have to look for a date we can use Court 2 (a conference
hall that also serves a courtroom). We cannot have 57 persons in
this court.”

The judge then adjourned the case till November 22 for
arraignment.

court room at the Federal high
court in Lagos : Photo credit: premiumtimesng

The federal courtrooms

Inside Mr Aikawa’s court, as is in nearly all the courtrooms at
the Federal High Court in Lagos, there are six benches, three on
either side of the room, and each sits about four people. The
benches are expected to accommodate lawyers, complainants,
defendants, interested parties, journalists, and members of the
public.

On any given day, the benches accommodate Senior Advocates of
Nigeria and other lawyers who arrive earlier than 9 a.m. when court
proceedings usually begin. The rest are expected to remain standing
throughout the day. Also begging for room are piles of case files
which spill out of wooden shelves and take up any available space
from the dock to the witness stand to the gap underneath the
registrar’s desk.

The only exceptions are Court 1 (used by the Chief Judge of the
Federal High Court) and Court 2 (the conference hall).

One sunny morning in October, a heated argument ensued among
those standing by the door. A male lawyer trying, frantically, to
get a foothold at the door met a stiff resistance from his female
colleague.

‘’Where do you want me to move to?” The lady asked.

The man retorted, “I don’t care if you have to compress or
decompress yourself, I just want to go inside.”

In the same month, a suit involving musician Azeez Fashola
(popularly known as Naira Marley) ended abruptly after lawyers
started a verbal scuffle over seating space, forcing the judge
to adjourn
proceedings^[2] till
December

‘Expanded cubicles’

Lawal Ijaodola, a lawyer, said he visits the federal high court
in Lagos at least twice weekly for his cases.

He describes the courtrooms as “slightly expanded cubicles.”

“It is no secret that the courtrooms are too small, he said.

“They are so small that sometimes they cannot even accommodate
the registrars talk less of litigants, they cannot even accommodate
the court itself (the judge and his supporting staff).

“In the courts, they are so small that lawyers have to stand to
conduct their cases, no place to sit and this is not a decent
setting. I know of only a courtroom here that looks like a standard
courtroom, every other courtroom are far from a standard
courtroom.”

Mr Ijaodola said for a lawyer to secure a seat in the
courtrooms, he has to be there at least one hour before the door is
opened.

“These courts are so small you don’t even need a public address
system for the court to hear you because talking in the slightest
bedroom voice, you can be heard conveniently.”

For Adam Mohammed, another lawyer who visits the high court
regularly, the courts are too small for a busy jurisdiction that
witnesses a high volume of cases.

“If there is no light, the courts will be so hot, I was involved
in a case and we had to stay there for several hours because there
was no light and the court sat by 1 p.m.,” Mr Mohammed said.

“Light, space and other amenities in the court are not so
encouraging considering the type of schedule the judges have and
the number of litigants before them.”

For Mr Mohammed, the only way of securing a seat in the
courtroom is to arrive two hours before the court begins
sitting.

“Otherwise, there is no hope you would get a seat,” he
added.

Oluseyi Olukoga, another lawyer, said in addition to the tiny
courtrooms, basic amenities such as functional toilets and a
parking space are visibly absent at the Lagos federal high
court.

“Lawyers cannot park within the premises, even outside the
premises there is problem of space,” he said.

“We were hoping that with the new annex, most of these problems
will be addressed. But if you go to the building, the courts there
too are very small and lawyers still have to sit outside.”

“I just realized it’s one of the new SANs that just used his
money to refurbish the toilet in the court premises.”

Mr Olukoga described the conditions in the courtroom as “very
discouraging.”

“Some have lost their case because of the way things are in
court, losing vital documents while haphazardly moving their case
files around or trying to go through it while standing in court,”
he said.

“In fact, to function in court sometimes, you just have to be
tough and determine that you will get it done no matter what and
this is very bad.”

Another challenge the court faces is lack of storage for
exhibits.

“Ordinarily there should be a facility called exhibit keepers
facility like in saner climes so that none of the parties has
access to the exhibit or tamper with it but it’s unavailable in
Nigerian courts,” said Mr Mohammed.

Mr Olukoga said the Evidence Act is not properly backed by
adequate funding or provision of facilities by the government.

“The Evidence Act 2011 made a provision for electronic evidence
and you will expect that with the passing of that law, the federal
government will follow it up with providing the necessary
facilities that will make storing these devices possible but this
is not the case” he said.

In Court 2, which is used by Justice Mohammed Liman, cases are
sometimes adjourned when the facility is to be used for its
original purpose: as a conference hall.

The hall is equipped with public address systems for the judge,
the court registrar, counsel, witnesses, and defendants. It is also
spacious and air-conditioned.

During a recent court hearing, Mr Liman told a counsel seeking
an adjournment for his suit, “Friday, we are having a retirement
ceremony for Justice Mojisola Olatoregun so we will not be able to
use this court for our proceeding. Since the programme starts by 11
a.m., we will have to conduct our case in one of the courts
downstairs.”

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