Lawyers and complications of justice

Justice may be difficult to define but nearly everyone can
recognise it. It is simply a matter of instinct to know what is
fair. In the long-gone days of our forefathers, life was very
simple and justice was a straightforward thing. The laws were so
few they could be counted on the fingers. They were unwritten but
everyone knew them by heart. The sanctions too were forthright and
people shaped up to them. Abominations were abominations and the
boundaries were clear.

Judgments were firm and punishments certain. Justice was not
only plain but was also dispensed with dispatch. Then, the people
might have been crude but they were never complicated. They were
firmly in control of their lives and there was some form of order
from their imperfect humanity.

But with the passage of time and the evolution of man in
civilisation, law and justice outgrew the understanding of the
ordinary men. It became the lot of the men in black robes, .i.e.
lawyers and judges, to learn all the laws, interpret and apply them
to the people.

That was the point when life started losing its innocence. The
laws thereafter were no longer simple. They have to be written
mostly in very complex language, with a series of clauses,
paragraphs, sections and sub-sections; packaged in several books as
constitution, Acts, statutes and all. And in places where the
people have had the historical misfortune of colonisation like
Nigeria, the people have to make do with laws written in a foreign
language.

Even then, mastery of the foreign language does not guarantee
any citizen clear understanding of the law. In the particular case
of Nigeria where the law is written in English, even a professor of
English still has to have a lawyer by his side to grasp what the
law is saying. Sorry, in matters of the law, only lawyers can
navigate the high seas of language!

But even at that, one lawyer may not be enough to explain the
law to anybody; because lawyers would just not agree between
themselves on what the books are saying. Where there are two
lawyers there is bound to be at least two opinions. An argument on
a word as innocent as “status quo” could drag on for months if not
years. At the end of the day, the very substance of the law is lost
on the altar of semantics. Justice then suffers a hiccup that may
well asphyxiate the entire system. And the man on the street, in
the middle of the confusion, is left to wonder “what’s grammar got
to do with it”.

As if all that is not enough, the legal application procedure
has yet another headache. No longer can disputes be settled the
same day before the village head, with sanctions immediately
imposed and enforced against the guilty party. Now, people have to
wait years before disputes are resolved because the lawyers do not
want justice to be rushed. As they often say, “justice rushed is
justice crushed”. (Whatever happened to “justice delayed is justice
denied!”)

So, all cases must go through the courts and be proved beyond
reasonable doubt, including the ones that are pretty much
established by evidence. In fact, lawyers have even created
allowance for cases to be tried and re-tried. And the process at
any level is not free. Whichever side of the divide one finds
oneself, money must be spent. And most times, it is big money.

At the courts too, things are not easy because with lawyers (and
judges, by implication), justice is not a matter of black or white.
There have to be several shades of grey in between. What seems to
be a crystal clear case to the ordinary eye could develop dark
clouds under the gowns of lawyers and judges.

Whichever way one looks at it, it is clear that lawyers as a
professional group would seem to have added to the cost and labour
of justice much more than they have added to the value of justice.
Some of the complications they brought to the process have only led
to a reduction in the achievement of justice in real terms. While
the truth of this may apply to a lesser degree in well-organised
societies, the situation in our country Nigeria is particularly
dire.

The wheel of justice has almost completely lost its firing steam
no thanks to our lawyers. First, they craft laws that are not only
complex but which are filled with contradictions. Every time people
have to go to court for interpretation of almost every word, clause
or sentence in the statutes. When the cases get to court, lawyers
file all sorts of motions to stultify the process and delay
justice. Many of the judges tolerate and entertain all manner of
funny motions and appeals and grant all sorts of questionable
relief. Conflicting judgments are passed by different judges at the
same judicial hierarchy on the same matter involving the same
people.

Before it is too late, action must be initiated by our lawyers
towards redesigning our legal system. In expression, interpretation
and application, our laws must be ranged in favour of justice in
its simplest form. The lawyers themselves must conduct themselves
with a deeper sense of loyalty to the collective interest of the
Nigerian people and society.

Sulaiman Akinosho, Ilasamaja, Lagos, Akinsmile007@gmail.com

Justice may be difficult to define but nearly everyone can
recognise it. It is simply a matter of instinct to know what is
fair. In the long-gone days of our forefathers, life was very
simple and justice was a straightforward thing. The laws were so
few they could be counted on the fingers. They were unwritten but
everyone knew them by heart. The sanctions too were forthright and
people shaped up to them. Abominations were abominations and the
boundaries were clear.

Judgments were firm and punishments certain. Justice was not
only plain but was also dispensed with dispatch. Then, the people
might have been crude but they were never complicated. They were
firmly in control of their lives and there was some form of order
from their imperfect humanity.

But with the passage of time and the evolution of man in
civilisation, law and justice outgrew the understanding of the
ordinary men. It became the lot of the men in black robes, .i.e.
lawyers and judges, to learn all the laws, interpret and apply them
to the people.

That was the point when life started losing its innocence. The
laws thereafter were no longer simple. They have to be written
mostly in very complex language, with a series of clauses,
paragraphs, sections and sub-sections; packaged in several books as
constitution, Acts, statutes and all. And in places where the
people have had the historical misfortune of colonisation like
Nigeria, the people have to make do with laws written in a foreign
language.

Even then, mastery of the foreign language does not guarantee
any citizen clear understanding of the law. In the particular case
of Nigeria where the law is written in English, even a professor of
English still has to have a lawyer by his side to grasp what the
law is saying. Sorry, in matters of the law, only lawyers can
navigate the high seas of language!

But even at that, one lawyer may not be enough to explain the
law to anybody; because lawyers would just not agree between
themselves on what the books are saying. Where there are two
lawyers there is bound to be at least two opinions. An argument on
a word as innocent as “status quo” could drag on for months if not
years. At the end of the day, the very substance of the law is lost
on the altar of semantics. Justice then suffers a hiccup that may
well asphyxiate the entire system. And the man on the street, in
the middle of the confusion, is left to wonder “what’s grammar got
to do with it”.

As if all that is not enough, the legal application procedure
has yet another headache. No longer can disputes be settled the
same day before the village head, with sanctions immediately
imposed and enforced against the guilty party. Now, people have to
wait years before disputes are resolved because the lawyers do not
want justice to be rushed. As they often say, “justice rushed is
justice crushed”. (Whatever happened to “justice delayed is justice
denied!”)

So, all cases must go through the courts and be proved beyond
reasonable doubt, including the ones that are pretty much
established by evidence. In fact, lawyers have even created
allowance for cases to be tried and re-tried. And the process at
any level is not free. Whichever side of the divide one finds
oneself, money must be spent. And most times, it is big money.

At the courts too, things are not easy because with lawyers (and
judges, by implication), justice is not a matter of black or white.
There have to be several shades of grey in between. What seems to
be a crystal clear case to the ordinary eye could develop dark
clouds under the gowns of lawyers and judges.

Whichever way one looks at it, it is clear that lawyers as a
professional group would seem to have added to the cost and labour
of justice much more than they have added to the value of justice.
Some of the complications they brought to the process have only led
to a reduction in the achievement of justice in real terms. While
the truth of this may apply to a lesser degree in well-organised
societies, the situation in our country Nigeria is particularly
dire.

The wheel of justice has almost completely lost its firing steam
no thanks to our lawyers. First, they craft laws that are not only
complex but which are filled with contradictions. Every time people
have to go to court for interpretation of almost every word, clause
or sentence in the statutes. When the cases get to court, lawyers
file all sorts of motions to stultify the process and delay
justice. Many of the judges tolerate and entertain all manner of
funny motions and appeals and grant all sorts of questionable
relief. Conflicting judgments are passed by different judges at the
same judicial hierarchy on the same matter involving the same
people.

Before it is too late, action must be initiated by our lawyers
towards redesigning our legal system. In expression, interpretation
and application, our laws must be ranged in favour of justice in
its simplest form. The lawyers themselves must conduct themselves
with a deeper sense of loyalty to the collective interest of the
Nigerian people and society.

Sulaiman Akinosho, Ilasamaja, Lagos, Akinsmile007@gmail.com