A retired Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Nwada Balami, has backed calls for the independence of the judiciary as a necessary step forward in the campaign for prompt delivery of justice.
Justice Balami said undue interference in the affairs of the judiciary, especially the reluctance of the executive arm to allow the judiciary control its finances and appointments has made nonsense of the separation of powers as enshrined in the nation’s constitution.
The retired judge told newsmen in Abuja in an interview over the weekend that political control has crippled the judiciary and that administrative officers of the justice system have been reduced to beggars who must request for everything from the executive to run their offices.
Justice Balami said the recent strike by the Judicial Staff Workers of Nigeria (JUSON) was caused by the neglect of the judiciary by state governors who expect judges to come cap in hand to beg for everything, including their legitimate salaries and allowances.
“State governors have reduced the judiciary to something pitiable in the present dispensation. At the federal level, things are better but state governors expect judges and magistrates to kneel down with plates in their hands to beg for those things that are their right.
“The long strike has set back the growth of the judiciary. The governors do not give the judiciary its capital votes and the chief judges must go begging before even their office requirements are provided.
“We need to have proper independence of the judiciary as enshrined in the constitution which says there shall be three arms of government namely the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.
“Independence means that each arm should be autonomous financially and administratively and should not rely on another arm to do its work. This is the only way the checks and balances can work out,” Balami said.
The judge called for strict enforcement of the statute which requires that cases should not be adjourned more than three times after the date of first mention saying also that the nation should adopt suspended sentences and community service, rather than imprisonment, as part of its methods of punishing offenders who break the law.
The way out is for the nation to enforce the three times limit for adjourning cases and also adopt suspended sentences against offenders.
“There is also the process we call arbitration and community service that can be adopted to decongest the prisons. People will think twice when they are made to sweep the streets or clear the gutters as part of punishment for offences committed against society,” Balami explained.
