NBA Lagos Law Week: Why The Judiciary Must Embrace Technology — VP. Osinbajo

*Suggests hybrid approach to legal education
*Adds: Innovation is a matter of urgency for the legal
profession
*Calls for deterrent costs against dilatory tactics

The Nigerian judiciary must embrace technology and innovation,
not only for the evolution of the profession and national
development but also to ensure that the country’s justice delivery
mechanism is run on a system of enforceable, discernible laws and
efficient institutions, according to Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this in a pre-recorded speech on Monday as
guest speaker at the 2021 Annual Law Week of the Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA) Lagos Branch, themed ‘Disruption, Innovation and
The Bar’.

Speaking on how the country’s justice delivery system can
support critical investments in today’s very dynamic economy, the
VP noted that “questions also need be asked about the readiness of
our profession to engage in new markets as presented by the African
Continental Free Trade Area. Already Nigerian Banks and financial
services are crossing borders in Africa, acquiring banks in several
African countries. So, the AfCTA will open new trans-border
commercial opportunities, and our profession should pay attention
to the rules of engagement for legal services and how they may
propel our business.”

According to the Vice President, innovation in Nigeria’s legal
profession requires urgency in both thought and action, especially
in a world which currently thrives on knowledge economy, and where
some jobs, including legal jobs, are being threatened by
digitization and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Citing the example of how continuous improvement in the quality
of smartphone cameras disrupted global sales of digital camera, the
VP observed that now “AI is commonly used to perform tasks such as
legal research and due diligence, document and contract review, and
the prediction of legal outcomes – these are tasks that would have
been performed by lawyers.”

“With the continuing progress in technology, it is only a matter
of time before the time capsule catches up with us in Nigeria,” he
stated while calling for continuous improvement in the
institutional capacity of judges, court registries, court staff,
and court infrastructure.

He added, “As digitalisation has already disrupted other
industries, it is possible to predict that AI will go further and
disrupt the business model of the legal industry.

“For example, the AI legal service called ROSS is an AI system
that can research and offer legal opinions about questions that may
be posed by lawyers. And ROSS is then able to provide an answer; a
properly considered legal opinion, taking into account the case
laws and statutory authority in order to be able to come to that
conclusion… So, providing predictive legal opinion is no longer the
exclusive domain of lawyers, and as the years go by, it will become
even more so.

“We are part of the global marketplace for investment and legal
services. So, the extent to which we can attract business to our
country depends in part upon investor perception of the quality of
our justice delivery system. If we are seen as inefficient and
ineffective, we would lose out to more efficient systems.”

Speaking on the issue of delay in the country’s justice delivery
process, Prof. Osinbajo further noted that the country’s judiciary
ought to find ways to tackle jurisdictional challenges,
particularly delays in court judgments, among others.

“I argued an appeal at the Court of Appeal in 2013, only to
learn yesterday as I discussed with former colleagues in the law
firm where I worked, that the appeal at the Supreme Court is not
even listed to be heard in 2021. As someone said; our problem is
not access to justice, it is exiting the justice system with some
credible result.

“Should we not be evolving a cost award system that recognizes
the court as a finite public resource, and as such delays and other
dilatory tactics are visited with deterrent costs?

Noting that the Law week, as well as future engagements,
provided an opportunity for some reflections by legal
practitioners, the VP raised pertinent issues that would spur
innovation and growth in the country’s judiciary.

He said, “For example, our jurisprudence on jurisdiction – does
it promote legal certainty or help to cloud the issues even
further? Have jurisdictional challenges become a potent weapon that
strike blindly in all directions? What is the quality of judicial
thinking, is it a mere recourse to formulas, catchphrases, and
clichés instead of a rigorous analysis of legislative intent and
public interest adding some common sense? Are procedural and
adjectival rules a bane or tool for justice and speed?

“How does a system explain to society that the current rule
established by our apex court is that the signature of a law firm
instead of that of an individual legal practitioner on a court
process could negate or extinguish the substance of the rights of
individuals and commercial parties to justice in a decade’s old
case or even in a case that is much older?

“Or how does justice delayed at the convenience of legal
practitioners or the benefit of litigants become justice
attained?

Also highlighting the need for innovation in legal training and
the necessity of virtual hearings, the VP stated that “change is
happening quickly all around us in every sphere of life. A
sentimental clutching on to traditions will not serve us well. We
have seen already that there is nothing sacrosanct about
proceedings taking place in physical courtrooms. Virtual hearings
are efficient and speedy.”

He commended States, including Lagos, that have embraced
innovation and issued practice directions that permitted virtual
proceedings during the pandemic lockdown, which he noted was “in
line with the commitment the Chief Justice of Nigeria made recently
to a full-scale digital revolution in the judiciary that would
guarantee electronic filing of court processes, virtual hearings
and delivery of judgments.”

Particularly, the VP highlighted how the Supreme Court delivered
some time-bound judgments by Zoom (video platform) during the
recent strike by Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN)
strike.

Suggesting a hybrid approach to legal education in the country,
the Vice President urged the Association to consider how innovation
in technology would impact on legal education in the future.

He said, “aside from all the issues around moving firmly to
clinical legal education and a more problem-solving teaching
orientation, we must also decide the question of whether the
Nigerian law school needs to be an in-person residential course or
mostly online, including taking examinations online.

“Today it is becoming obvious that cramping thousands of
students into a classroom for lectures at the law school is a
suboptimal teaching and learning environment.”

He added that “even mock trials can be more effectively done
online and courtroom processes can be put on videos and re-watched
several times by students. Of course, we may still retain court and
chamber attachments.”

The Vice President further stated that the legal profession
needs to go a step further by institutionalizing these innovations,
because “our justice delivery system, practice norms, and service
levels must also show a propensity for innovation, for growth and
evolution.”

*Suggests hybrid approach to legal education
*Adds: Innovation is a matter of urgency for the legal
profession
*Calls for deterrent costs against dilatory tactics

The Nigerian judiciary must embrace technology and innovation,
not only for the evolution of the profession and national
development but also to ensure that the country’s justice delivery
mechanism is run on a system of enforceable, discernible laws and
efficient institutions, according to Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this in a pre-recorded speech on Monday as
guest speaker at the 2021 Annual Law Week of the Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA) Lagos Branch, themed ‘Disruption, Innovation and
The Bar’.

Speaking on how the country’s justice delivery system can
support critical investments in today’s very dynamic economy, the
VP noted that “questions also need be asked about the readiness of
our profession to engage in new markets as presented by the African
Continental Free Trade Area. Already Nigerian Banks and financial
services are crossing borders in Africa, acquiring banks in several
African countries. So, the AfCTA will open new trans-border
commercial opportunities, and our profession should pay attention
to the rules of engagement for legal services and how they may
propel our business.”

According to the Vice President, innovation in Nigeria’s legal
profession requires urgency in both thought and action, especially
in a world which currently thrives on knowledge economy, and where
some jobs, including legal jobs, are being threatened by
digitization and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Citing the example of how continuous improvement in the quality
of smartphone cameras disrupted global sales of digital camera, the
VP observed that now “AI is commonly used to perform tasks such as
legal research and due diligence, document and contract review, and
the prediction of legal outcomes – these are tasks that would have
been performed by lawyers.”

“With the continuing progress in technology, it is only a matter
of time before the time capsule catches up with us in Nigeria,” he
stated while calling for continuous improvement in the
institutional capacity of judges, court registries, court staff,
and court infrastructure.

He added, “As digitalisation has already disrupted other
industries, it is possible to predict that AI will go further and
disrupt the business model of the legal industry.

“For example, the AI legal service called ROSS is an AI system
that can research and offer legal opinions about questions that may
be posed by lawyers. And ROSS is then able to provide an answer; a
properly considered legal opinion, taking into account the case
laws and statutory authority in order to be able to come to that
conclusion… So, providing predictive legal opinion is no longer the
exclusive domain of lawyers, and as the years go by, it will become
even more so.

“We are part of the global marketplace for investment and legal
services. So, the extent to which we can attract business to our
country depends in part upon investor perception of the quality of
our justice delivery system. If we are seen as inefficient and
ineffective, we would lose out to more efficient systems.”

Speaking on the issue of delay in the country’s justice delivery
process, Prof. Osinbajo further noted that the country’s judiciary
ought to find ways to tackle jurisdictional challenges,
particularly delays in court judgments, among others.

“I argued an appeal at the Court of Appeal in 2013, only to
learn yesterday as I discussed with former colleagues in the law
firm where I worked, that the appeal at the Supreme Court is not
even listed to be heard in 2021. As someone said; our problem is
not access to justice, it is exiting the justice system with some
credible result.

“Should we not be evolving a cost award system that recognizes
the court as a finite public resource, and as such delays and other
dilatory tactics are visited with deterrent costs?

Noting that the Law week, as well as future engagements,
provided an opportunity for some reflections by legal
practitioners, the VP raised pertinent issues that would spur
innovation and growth in the country’s judiciary.

He said, “For example, our jurisprudence on jurisdiction – does
it promote legal certainty or help to cloud the issues even
further? Have jurisdictional challenges become a potent weapon that
strike blindly in all directions? What is the quality of judicial
thinking, is it a mere recourse to formulas, catchphrases, and
clichés instead of a rigorous analysis of legislative intent and
public interest adding some common sense? Are procedural and
adjectival rules a bane or tool for justice and speed?

“How does a system explain to society that the current rule
established by our apex court is that the signature of a law firm
instead of that of an individual legal practitioner on a court
process could negate or extinguish the substance of the rights of
individuals and commercial parties to justice in a decade’s old
case or even in a case that is much older?

“Or how does justice delayed at the convenience of legal
practitioners or the benefit of litigants become justice
attained?

Also highlighting the need for innovation in legal training and
the necessity of virtual hearings, the VP stated that “change is
happening quickly all around us in every sphere of life. A
sentimental clutching on to traditions will not serve us well. We
have seen already that there is nothing sacrosanct about
proceedings taking place in physical courtrooms. Virtual hearings
are efficient and speedy.”

He commended States, including Lagos, that have embraced
innovation and issued practice directions that permitted virtual
proceedings during the pandemic lockdown, which he noted was “in
line with the commitment the Chief Justice of Nigeria made recently
to a full-scale digital revolution in the judiciary that would
guarantee electronic filing of court processes, virtual hearings
and delivery of judgments.”

Particularly, the VP highlighted how the Supreme Court delivered
some time-bound judgments by Zoom (video platform) during the
recent strike by Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN)
strike.

Suggesting a hybrid approach to legal education in the country,
the Vice President urged the Association to consider how innovation
in technology would impact on legal education in the future.

He said, “aside from all the issues around moving firmly to
clinical legal education and a more problem-solving teaching
orientation, we must also decide the question of whether the
Nigerian law school needs to be an in-person residential course or
mostly online, including taking examinations online.

“Today it is becoming obvious that cramping thousands of
students into a classroom for lectures at the law school is a
suboptimal teaching and learning environment.”

He added that “even mock trials can be more effectively done
online and courtroom processes can be put on videos and re-watched
several times by students. Of course, we may still retain court and
chamber attachments.”

The Vice President further stated that the legal profession
needs to go a step further by institutionalizing these innovations,
because “our justice delivery system, practice norms, and service
levels must also show a propensity for innovation, for growth and
evolution.”