NJC Makes Judges' Appointments More Transparent, To Advertise Vacancies, Adopts New Guidelines
BEVERLY HILLS, May 14, (THEWILL) – The National Judicial Council (NJC) has started implementing new guidelines to make the appointment of judges more transparent to ensure that corrupt and indolent lawyers do not get appointed as judges.
Accordingly, all new vacancies are to be advertised in line with the 2014 Revised NJC Guidelines and Procedural Rules for the Appointment of Judicial Officers of All Superior Courts of Record in Nigeria. This is to ensure that only honest, hardworking and lawyers with integrity become judges.
Confirming the new development in Abuja on Thursday was the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmoud Mohammed, while speaking at the swearing- in of Justice Amiru Sanusi as a Justice of the Supreme Court .
The CJN said, “The guidelines provide for a more comprehensive, robust and transparent method of appointment, leading to the emergence of only the best legal minds with high moral standards to serve as judges in our revered temples of justice.”
Maintaining that Justice Sanusi was the first judicial officer to be appointed under the new guidelines, the CJN said the process began by advertisement in the media for the vacancy and calling for interested candidates to show interest in filling the vacancy.
According to him, “Acts as lobbying for appointment, exhibition of bad behaviour in and out of court, influence peddling, rendering dishonest or questionable legal opinions, submission of false credentials, are just some of those conducts exhaustively listed in the 2014 guidelines as acts that would preclude appointment to Judicial office.”
Explaining that the new guidelines had brought the judiciary into an era where the eligibility of a candidate for appointment to the Bench would no longer be based on nepotism, familiarity or fraternal connections, he said: ”The Chief Justices of Nigeria serving and retired, serving and retired Justices of the Supreme Court, the Presidents of the Court of Appeal serving and retired and other heads of court as well as the President of the NBA, were all required to nominate, on behalf of the Bench and Bar respectively, such persons they deemed fit and properly qualified for elevation to our nation's highest court.
“Having been duly nominated, comments were received from the recommenders, on the shortlisted candidates with regard to their suitability or otherwise for appointment. I must state at this juncture that such acts as lobbying for appointment, exhibition of bad behavior in and out of court, influence peddling, rendering dishonest or questionable legal opinions, submission of false credentials, are just some of those conducts exhaustively listed in the 2014 guidelines as acts that would preclude appointment to Judicial office.
“The prospective candidates were further assessed by the FJSC on the basis of strict criteria such as sound knowledge of the law, good reputation, and seniority, in addition to other criteria too numerous to list here.
“Shortlisted candidates were required to duly fill and submit a completed FORM A, issued by the National Judicial Council, within a limited time. Once completed and submitted, FORM A and all documents pertaining to the candidates were once again scrutinized by the FJSC to ensure that the candidates had indeed met the requisite criteria. Furthermore, a security report from the Department of State Security (DSS) and Medical Clearance from a recognised Government Hospital were obtained, among other supporting documents.
“The FJSC then submitted its recommended list of final candidates to the NJC, which conducted interviews for all candidates recommended by the FJSC in order to ascertain the most suitable person to occupy the position of Justice of the Supreme Court.
“The best candidate emerging from the exercise was then recommended by the Council to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for appointment, after the approval of the Senate.”