The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam Mukhtar, on Thursday said the ongoing judicial reform programme will only succeed if legal practitioners in the country are disciplined.
The CJN spoke when the Chairman of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, Mr. Joseph Daudu, SAN, presented copies of ‘Directions and Rulings of the LPDC of the Body of Benchers from January to May 2013’ to her in the Supreme Court.
She also expressed concern at the nature of some of the petitions filed against lawyers, which she described as thought provoking.
“I believe that, for the judiciary to be reformed, lawyers must be disciplined.
“With the number of reports we are now receiving, you just have to work harder, some petitions came to me which I sent to you, and some of them were quite thought provoking,” she said.
Justice Mukhtar commended the LPDC for complementing the efforts of the National Judicial Council in addressing misconduct in the judiciary.
She said, “It seems LPDC is assiduously competing with the NJC, as the two bodies are now running side by side to cleanse the judiciary.
“For quite some time, I have been seeing the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee proceedings on the television networks, but I have never observed the zeal and resolve with which you are carrying out this job.”
“This is a document which would be useful to many lawyers and judges including those of us at the Supreme Court since appeals against your decisions will lie at the apex court.”
She urged members of the committee to “bear with the pressure and hazards of the job since you are sitting over the judgment of your colleagues.”
Daudu informed the CJN that, out of 51 pending cases, the LPDC has treated 42, while only nine are outstanding
Punch
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