Court of Appeal: SAN calls for adequate screening of judges

Mr Solo Akuma, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) has called for the proper screening of judges into the Court of Appeal for effective delivery of justice.

Akuma made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.

“Well, it is not unusual to see some justices of the Court of Appeal who have not shown capacity to deliver on their mandate.

“The Federal Judicial Service Commission and the National Judicial Commission need to look at the pedigree of someone they are about to elevate from the High Court to the Court of Appeal,” he said.

The SAN said some salient points needed to be put into consideration before appointing judges into the Court of Appeal.

Akuma said that a judge at the High Court should have discharged his responsibilities at the court with high competence before he could be elevated to the Court of Appeal.

“If possible, the appointing authorities also ought to get comments and do findings on competence and ability from the state of origin, bar association of the would-be judge of the Court of Appeal.

“If a judge has not been discharging his responsibilities at the High Court, there is no reason to believe that when he is elevated to the Court of Appeal, he would do better.

“Again, as a Court of Appeal judge, when appointed and he is not delivering, then there should be sanctions, it should not be business as usual,” he said.

According to Akuma, the number of cases that goes to the Court of Appeal is huge and when the justices are not delivering their mandates, obviously the cases will last longer than expected. (NAN)