Following the recent attack on the judiciary, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Lagos branch, Olabisi Makanjuola, has stated that legal practitioners should protect the sanctity and integrity of the court system.
He stated this while speaking on the forthcoming 2023 Dinner of the NBA, Lagos branch, scheduled for Friday, December 15, 2023, at Queens Park in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Makanjuola added that it was wrong for people to criticise judgments on the pages of newspapers when they don’t know the arguments being put forth before the court.
He said, ‘‘The judgment is as good as the arguments canvassed. And I think what we should do as legal practitioners is that once the apex court has spoken, I think we should respect the sanctity of the system and just allow the decision of the apex court.
“The issues or incidents when senior lawyers and colleagues castigate the court system or the judiciary, I think with respect, aren’t the best and that should be discouraged.”
Explaining the role of the NBA in clamping down on lawyers who disrespect the judiciary, Makanjuola said, “I don’t think there is any deterrent to lawyers castigating the court system and the judiciary, who bring disrepute to the judiciary delivery sector in the country. Once the NBA begins to clamp down on such lawyers, I think the different Bars in the country should follow suit in what the NBA is doing and if we find any of our members at the premier Bar guilty of such we would take the right measures to discipline such thing.”
