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Lawyers Count Losses as Workers’ Strike Persists

  • Say no civilised nation allows shutdown of judiciary

As the strike embarked upon by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) enters its eighth week, lawyers have lamented that the strike has compounded the woes of the judiciary, which is already reeling under severe stress, overwork, congestion, and chronic delay of cases due to systemic failure.

The lawyers also condemned the poor handling of the grievances of the striking workers who went on a strike to press home their demand for financial autonomy for state judiciaries. They said no civilised nation would have allowed its judiciary to be shut down for even a day.

The lawyers, during separate interviews with THISDAY, stated that the impact of the strike would linger on the nation, which is yet to fully recover from the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The courts were shut down for most part of last year, due to COVID-19 lockdown, impairing the speedy and smooth dispensation of justice.

However, while the courts were still struggling to overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 lockdown, judicial workers grounded the courts with strike.

JUSUN on April 6 embarked on an indefinite strike to protest the refusal of state governments to grant financial autonomy to the state judiciaries.

Although hope that the matter would soon be resolved had emerged two weeks ago after the striking workers agreed to call off the strike once payment is made directly into the account of the judiciary in each state, that hope seems to be fading away as it was learnt last week that the governors were yet to sign an agreement earlier reached with the workers.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha and the leadership of the judiciary had met two weeks ago to resolve issues leading to the strike.

Speaking on the issue, the lawyers stated that the strike has paralysed the entire legal system.

According to a senior lawyer, Mr. John Baiyeshea, (SAN) the strike has compounded the woes of the judiciary, which is already reeling under severe stress, overwork, congestion and chronic delay of cases.

He said: “The damage already done to the administration of justice is colossal, and we cannot recover anytime soon.

“This is all part of gross under development of very debilitating and tragic dimension.

“No civilised nation will allow this important sector to be shut down for one day, not to talk of two months now, with no end in sight.”

Assessing the impact of the strike on lawyers, Baiyeshea said since lawyers’ main job is in adjudication, most of the chambers have been idle, with clients no longer paying fees for services.

He added that clients are also frustrated because their cases and in some instances their businesses and means of livelihood have been locked down.

According to him, some clients have their funds locked up in the banks and need court orders for them to have access to them.

“Most of what we do in the legal profession end up in courts to be tested, and for the rights and obligations of parties to be determined through litigation.

“So courts are closed as a result of the strike, lawyers are idle, we are in our chambers doing nothing.

The clients go away, and they are not paying fees. What are they paying for? They are not happy that their cases are locked down. Their expectations are lost, and short down. There is no motivation for them to pay for services that are not rendered.

“Even our colleagues in corporate practice cannot function optimally, because the key aspect of the whole justice sector is down totally.

“There is so much economic setback for lawyers whose earnings are severely affected. Funds are being contributed by senior lawyers in various branches of NBA, now to give palliative to junior colleagues. This is similar to what was done during the COVID-19 lockdown of last year,” he added.

Another senior lawyer, Mr. Dayo Akinlaja (SAN), said the country was going through difficult times owing to the lengthy time it is taking to resolve the industrial dispute, urging Nigerians to seek the intervention of God in resolving the logjam.

“The situation is obviously tiresome. It has socially and economically negatively impacted on lawyers, non-lawyers and the nation at large. The indices are tellingly there. It is a testament to the ominous times we are in. May the good Lord have mercy on our nation,” he stated.

An Abuja-based legal practitioner, Mr. Ifeanyichukwu Obasi-Nweze, said the impact of the workers’ strike was visible on all sectors of the economy.

“Much as we lawyers are in support of financial autonomy for the judiciary, we are not unaware of the hardship it is occasioning on the society and the lawyers in particular – the list is unending.

“Just imagine a person in detention and trying to enforce his/her fundamental rights, for instance. But all I can say personally is that nothing good comes easy. We’re already at the tail end of the strike, expectedly”, he said.

Obasi-Nweze stated that once the judiciary is truly autonomous, it will be a good foundation for other good things to stand on, including elections.

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