Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - ‘Nigerian judges work less than four months a year’
Thank you, Farooq, It is astonishing that some public intellectuals are hailing the lawless reduction of wages and sending civil servants to "farm" as "thinking out of box" in Nigeria. Maybe we should smash the box so that there would be no need anymore to go outside it to think (or rather send thinking on vacation). Governance is being trivialised; those in power in some states have run out of ideas and some thinkers are celebrating it. Pity! Kayode Komolafe.
On 25 August 2016 01:28:58 GMT+01:00, "Farooq A. Kperogi" <farooqkperogi@gmail.com> wrote:
Bolaji,
You are helping to make my point. When civil servants were called lazy, unproductive, and deserving of reduced wages and reduced work days (so they can work on farms!) you didn't come to their defense. You made no contrasts between the work habits of other nations' civil servants and those of Nigerian civil servants. You instead called the proposal to send workers to farms in exchange for reduced work days and reduced salaries thinking "out of the box." But now that it has been pointed that Nigerian judges are even less productive than poorly paid civil servants, you are pointing out that US Supreme Court justices also take a 3-month vacation.
But your comparison is off for at least two reasons. One, the Guardian investigation was about judges in Nigerian courts, not specifically Nigerian Supreme Court justices. So to compare US Supreme Court justices with judges in Nigerian courts is a poor contrast of contexts. A better contrast would be between Nigerian judges and US federal judges. A recent Huffington Post story found that US federal judges are "burned out and overworked." They work "75 hours a week and at least one full day every weekend." (See the link to the story here:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/judge-federal-courts-vacancies_us_55d77721e4b0a40aa3aaf14b). That's a sharp contrast with Nigerian judges who work "less than 4 months a year." Second, even the work hours of US Supreme Court justices are way higher than those of Nigerian judges. I really don't know what your point is.
I think we should think "out of the box" and send judges to farms as well, and save money by reducing their salaries for the days they don't go to work. Let's democratize this to every government sector, including the National Assembly, the Presidency, academe, etc. That would really be thinking "out of the box."
Farooq
Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Journalism & Emerging Media School of Communication & Media
Social Science Building
Room 5092 MD 2207
402 Bartow Avenue Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144 Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697 Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia takes part in an interview with Chris Wallace onFOX News Sunday n July 27, 2012 in Washington, D.C.
Photograph by Paul Morigi/Getty Images.
It's August. Do you know where your Supreme Court is?
A good bet is that none of the nine justices are in Washington, D.C. As Chief Justice John Roberts once quipped: "Only Supreme Court justices and schoolchildren are expected to and do take the entire summer off." (Roberts made that statement while serving as an attorney in the Reagan Administration.) The justices are free to leave town as soon as they issue their last decision of the term in late June, and they are usually not to be found back in the nation's capital until the first Monday in October—the official start of the new Supreme Court term. Many of the justices use this chunk of free time to travel, lecture, write books, and teach, among other activities. This summer is no exception: Justice Antonin Scalia spent most of the summer teaching in Austria; Chief Justice Roberts chose to teach in Malta, while Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Samuel Alito did the same in Italy. Not only are these teaching gigs a delightful respite from the swampy heat of D.C., they also let the justices pad their wallets with about $20,000, a supplement to the justices' $213,000 salaries.
Should the leaders of the judicial branch be in a position to use "summer" as a verb, particularly when they take advantage of the time off to moonlight as law professors? Or is the summer break a harmless perk?
Either way, the summer recess comes with some significant costs. Because the justices do not meet to decide whether to grant or deny review in cases during the summer months, thousands of legal petitions pile up during their absence. The court plows through this backlog at their first conference (aptly referred to as the "long conference") in the last week of September. But they obviously cannot give these petitions the same consideration as those that arrive later in the term. (For this reason, savvy appellate attorneys know that it is best to avoid filing petitions over the summer if they can.)
The impending summer recess can also force the court to rush decisions without taking the time to articulate their reasoning, as at least one scholar argues occurred in the Pentagon Papers case—a momentous case with serious national security implications that was decided in a three-paragraph, unsigned opinion in late June. The summer break was behind the timing of this past term's health care decision. As was widely reported, a decision had to be made by the end of June because of Chief Justice Roberts' Malta trip in the first week of July.
When pressing issues arise during the recess, the matter is often handled by a single justice "in chambers" who must make important decisions about whether to grant stays, injunctions, or extensions without consulting with his or her absent colleagues. For example, Justice William Douglas issued an "in chambers" order in August 1973, which put a stop to military operations in Cambodia. He explained that he would normally have referred this question to the full court, but the summer recess made that "impossible."
The three-month break is particularly galling at a time when the Supreme Court decides fewer cases than any other court in modern times. In recent years, the court has heard an average of about 80 cases a term, which is half the number they heard 20 years ago and makes up fewer than 1 percent of the approximately 10,000 review petitions they receive. The rest of the federal judiciary does not get the same extended summer vacation, and they handle a great deal more cases. It is also a little disconcerting that many of the justices use the time off to generate outside income. Shouldn't their time be filled by the job they are paid (by all of us year-round working taxpayers) to do?
Of course, the summer recess probably offers some important psychological benefits. Hopefully, the justices use the break to reflect on the previous term and their role in our system of government. Visits to foreign countries will likely broaden what otherwise might become parochial perspectives. And perhaps most important, it is a chance for the nine scorpions to scuttle out of their bottle and get a much-needed respite from each other. Remember, these jobs come with a life tenure, which means that most of the justices will sit together for decades. (Imagine being forced to work closely with the same annoying co-worker for the rest of your life.)
Still, it's worth remembering that the justices did not always have it so good. In 1789,Congress required the very first Supreme Court to meet in August for the start of its term—and this in an era without air conditioning. Worse, that Congress assigned the justices double-duty as circuit court judges: In addition to deciding cases as members of the Supreme Court, the justices were required to "ride circuit" around the United States to hear cases in their capacity as lower court judges. Circuit riding continued for the next 100 years.
So perhaps Congress should abolish the court's three-month recess, and maybe even reinstate circuit riding, as a few scholars have already suggested. Of course, these hardships will make a job on the Supreme Court less attractive than it is today. That was certainly the case in 1801, when President John Adams was turned down by his first choice for chief justice before finally convincing John Marshall to accept the post. (Former Chief Justice John Jay declined Adams' nomination to serve in that position again, saying that the office lacked "dignity.") If nothing else, abolishing the justices' summer vacation might lead to greater turnover on the high court—a possibility that might appeal to Democrats, Republicans, and any justice who'd rather spend more time on the Mediterranean.
Well, I hope we can extend the same logic to explain Nigerian civil servants' famed lethargy. Maybe it's also unfair to judge the output of civil servants by the number of hours they spend in the office. Perhaps they also "work" at home. No?
In any case, read what Femi Falana, said: "Former president of the West African Bar Association, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) said the yearly vacation by courts was designed by the British colonial regime to allow judges travel to the UK for summer holidays.
"But at that time, judges were working on Saturdays and the country did not observe many holidays. The judiciary ought to indigenise the administration of justice in the country by jettisoning the colonial legacy. Judges should go on leave for a month in a year which should be structured in a way that our courts do not collapse during their vacation he stated" Falana said.
Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Journalism & Emerging Media School of Communication & Media
I hope this article isn't based on the faulty premise that a judge only 'works' when he or she is sitting in open court? It is quite ridiculous to say that they "work less than four months a year". I know that it is open season in judges because of the questionable judgments of a few of them, but one might as well assert that university lecturers are only 'working' when they are on their feet talking to their students!
Ideally a judge reads all the papers filed before the public hearing so that they can properly follow the evidence and the case as it is presented in open court. That is 'work' and it takes more than the split second that this report seems to assume. (At least, I hope it does!). After the public hearing, everything must be carefully read, reviewed and considered, including the cases cited by Counsel in support of their submissions (to ensure that they do indeed support what they are said to support and do not turn out to be taken out of context in a judgment that says something quite different), and then the judges have to write their judgment.
In some courts, e.g. in Lagos, judges no longer take the evidence down longhand but have court recorders for that. But apart from the constitutional obligation to deliver judgment within three months or explain to the National Judicial Council, in some states they are required to make returns showing how many cases they have disposed of etc. etc.
Of course, you have some lazy judges and you have some hard working ones. But the number of days that they sit is no measure of that at all.
Some people on this list justified the reduction of the work days--and salaries--of civil servants by unthinking, irresponsible governors on the basis that civil servants barely work; that the salaries paid to them are basically unearned, undeserved welfare, which is putatively an unsustainable drain on the national treasury. Well, here is a story about Nigerian judges who work--and do-- a whole lot less than civil servants but receive way more wages and allowances than civil servants. Should Nigerian judges also be sent to farms (on the days they don't work) and their wages cut?
No one who works for government in Nigeria, especially people at the upper end of the social and political scale--deserves his pay. That's the stark, unvarnished truth. This starts from the president and the vice president (who are basically useless, indolent but gargantuan leeches on our national resources) to state governors (who are mostly otiose, airheaded, profligate sybarites), to National Assembly members (those lazy, infantile, irresponsible, overpaid thugs) to everyone down the line.
Yet folks here are only concerned about lowly civil servants who are paid peanuts to start with. Our contempt for and blithe insouciance over the existential threats that daily confront the poor and the helpless in Nigeria are just unimaginably enormous. The neo-conservative, petty-bourgeois stratum of our intellectual elite are quick to point out the shortcomings of the poor but ignore, sometimes even celebrate, the costly and politically consequential indiscretions of the political elite, of the bankrupt national power structure.
It's the same contempt for the poor that causes petty thieves to be burned alive on the streets of Lagos and elsewhere while fat, rich criminals who inflict far graver injury on the nation's finances are celebrated and defended.
When all the days they go on holiday and vacation are computed, judges in Nigerian courts work just about 104 days in a year, The Guardian can reveal.
Out of 365 days in a year, judges do not sit during weekends -104 days; public holidays -10 days; annual court vacation- 60 days; Christmas vacation-14 days; Easter vacation -14 days; conference week- seven days as well as Fridays, which are usually reserved for judgments, amounting to 52 days.
When the figures are summed up, they add up to 261 days, implying therefore that judges sit only for 104 days, when 261 days are deducted from the 365 days in a year.
Besides, in an election year and during staggered elections, high court judges who are members of election petition tribunals, are away for 180 days, amounting to six months.
Cases in the courts manned by such judges are adjourned sine die as judges are said to be away on national assignments.
Similarly, appellate courts concentrate attention on appeals arising from election petitions.
Former president of the West African Bar Association, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) said the yearly vacation by courts was designed by the British colonial regime to allow judges travel to the UK for summer holidays.
"But at that time, judges were working on Saturdays and the country did not observe many holidays. The judiciary ought to indigenise the administration of justice in the country by jettisoning the colonial legacy. Judges should go on leave for a month in a year which should be structured in a way that our courts do not collapse during their vacation he stated" Falana said.
According to him, facilities for effective performance by judges are not available. His words: "Judges still write longhand while court rooms are not adequate or conducive to work. Some lack ventilation and others are so dark that judges cannot sit if there is no light.
In many states, the courts have no funds to buy generators and diesel. When there is no light the courts are so hot that the judges and lawyers are allowed to remove their wigs and gowns.
"As there are no libraries, judges have to take photocopies of reported cases from lawyers. The Executive arm of government has refused to comply with the provisions of the Constitution which has guaranteed financial autonomy for the judiciary.
Since the Nigerian Bar Association has failed woefully to ensure that the two judgments of court on financial autonomy for the judiciary are complied with by the executive, the judiciary staff union has been left to fight for autonomy for Nigerian judges.
"The judiciary should take advantage of the ongoing Constitution review to ensure that all judges retire at 70 years, while interlocutory appeals are abolished. Election petition tribunals should be constituted by retired judges so that the proceedings of courts are not disrupted by the avalanche of election petitions. After all, most arbitral tribunals are constituted by retired judges," he advised.
For the director, Access to Justice (A2J),Mr. Joseph Otteh, the length of judges' vacation raises concern.
"We can acknowledge at the outset, that the line between official working hours and personal rest time among judges is a blurred one, and this is so even during yearly vacations. We also concede that the conditions under which some judges function, at work or home are daunting and can be quite stressful.
"However, in the face of widespread delays in the delivery of justice, and the frustrations caused to court users, as well as the negative case clearance rates found in the courts, the length of vacation time is unsustainable and can be a significant contributory factor in the congestion we see in court dockets," he said, adding that there is a legitimate and reasonable public interest claim for judges to stay longer on their beats and do more to reduce case delays. He said: "One way to look at this is to ask: If a patient with long term medical care needs is told that his treatment will have to be suspended for about three or four months in a year, because his physician is on vacation, will that make sense to the patient? I believe it will not.
"Cumulatively, the duration of judges vacation in Nigeria is among the lengthiest in the world. Just recently for example, the Indian High Court of Gujarat announced judicial vacations in 2016 for a period of less than one month, from Monday, the 9th of May, to Sunday, the 5th of June 2016, and Indian High Courts enjoy a cumulative vacation period of between one and half months and two and a half months. In Israel, district court judges enjoy a six week vacation while in Netherlands, it is four weeks.
"With the caseload in our courts, it is hard to justify the amount of time judges spend on vacation in Nigeria, even if we admit the difficult conditions under which they do their important work," Otteh declared.
In his own view, Lagos lawyer, Mr. Tony Odiadi said the cost of judges going on vacation does not outweigh the benefits. He said: "When a system is not in operation, there is usually a cost, but when matched against the tradition and values of the system, the said cost is dispensed with. There is also a Parliamentary tradition of vacation as well as the Executive/ President vacation periods. With that in mind, the whole exercise amounts to an essential practice within the various arms of government."
Odiadi pointed out that urgent matters affecting rights, responsibilities, freedom and violations are usually attended to by a vacation judge who sits to treat all such urgencies.
"Anti-corruption war of the current administration cannot be compromised or lost because the court is keeping to its age old tradition of vacation," he stated.
Similarly, former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Lagos branch, Mr. Alex Mouka believes that the long vacation is justifiable when the pressure under which judges and lawyers (especially litigation lawyers) work are considered.
He said: "Busy practitioners work under intense pressure nine months of the year – arguing cases back to back and travelling to courts in different cities. The long vacation is the only time such practitioners and judges can rest and recharge." Mouka said cases do not really suffer during the vacation.
His words: "First of all, probably as a result of universal awareness of the vacation or because it is summer holidays and most litigants are also on holiday, there is a reduction in the number of matters that come to court around this period.
"In any event, while the courts are on vacation, there is always provision for vacation judges, who will sit in rotation and handle urgent matters and cases coming up during the vacation. Thus, cases do not suffer.
"Finally, it must be pointed out that the Magistrate Court, where a lot of matters (both Civil and Criminal) are disposed off does not go on vacation (although some Magistrates would arrange to take their annual leave about this time) and is in fact open throughout the year dispensing justice."
On his part, Dr. Kayode Ajulo believes that court's long vacation is part and parcel of the legal year, in our jurisdiction as well as in other common law jurisdictions. He said that it is codified in the legal calendar during which period, most of judges are on vacation and do not regularly sit to take up cases.
He noted that the vacation helps judges rejuvenate themselves. "It very well give their sagging spirits a boost. It is also to some, a time to thoroughly embark on legal research of the cases before them, holding conferences, etc. It is a tradition of the bench that has come to stay," he stated, adding that it is technically incorrect to posit that the cost implication of court's long vacation amounts to 261 days in a year.
"The vacation is justiciable, considering the number of criminal cases and commercial disputes.
What should be reviewed and increased is the number of the judges in Nigeria," he suggested.
Farooq
Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Journalism & Emerging Media School of Communication & Media
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