CJN bans book launch for judges

May 29, 2015 : Ade Adesomoju 

Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, on Thursday affirmed the directive of the National Judicial Council, banning further launching of books in honour of serving judges.

The CJN, who is also the chairman of the NJC confirmed the ban on such act while swearing in a new Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Ishaq Bello, at the Supreme Court complex in Abuja on Thursday.

The PUNCH had exclusively reported on May 21, 2015, that the NJC had at its meeting on the previous day directed judges not to accept such honours any longer while they were in service.

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The NJC had yet to make public the said directive which was disclosed to our correspondent by a source in the council.

Our correspondent had learnt that the directive by the NJC followed a report, ‘Donations in honour of judges raise ethical questions’ published in the May 18, 2015 edition of The PUNCH.

Earlier before Thursday, The PUNCH had reported on May 26, 2015 that the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, had shunned a book launch which was originally planned in her honour in confirmation of the directive issued by the NJC.

The CJN, who was billed to be the chairman of the occasion was also absent.

Justice Mohammed said on Thursday that such event could expose judges to allegations of corruption.

The CJN said, “Judges must understand that by launching such books while in service, they potentially submit themselves to the publishers and the so-called launchers, while opening themselves up to allegations of corruption.

“Accordingly, it is now clear, judging from the public’s reaction to these book launches and the resultant negative media coverage of same, that our ability to be impartial and indeed honest in our judgments, is now regarded with scepticism.

“To argue otherwise would be academic while some of our Judges are perceived, whether rightly or wrongly, to be not absolutely clean.

“My lords, we should not give the public any cause to doubt our integrity or our sincerity of purpose as public confidence once lost is hard to regain.

“It bears reminding that even if the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers does not expressly prohibit this sort of extra-judicial conduct, it is certainly inappropriate and portrays the Nigerian judiciary in a bad light and should therefore be avoided.”

The CJN who described the act as a “worrisome trend” added, “It is further regrettable to note that some petitions received at the National Judicial Council were written in respect of books launched by or on behalf of Heads of Court and being attended by litigants in their courts, who have also acted as chief launchers or indeed guests of honour at the occasion.”