Filing A Matter In Court: A Sprint Or A Marathon By Bayo Akinlade Esq.

A few months back, I gave a step by step guide to filing a
matter in the High Courts of Lagos State. I concluded that the
process was flawed in so many ways despite the beautiful
innovations put in place by the Lagos State judiciary to make the
process faster and easier. The human interface in the filing
process has caused great hardship and encouraged corruption in the
judiciary – this is regrettable.

I am however glad that the new Chief Judge of Lagos is making
efforts to see that the filing process and indeed other issues of
court services and business are carried out with speed and
efficiency. It will however take some time and will the need the
cooperation of all court users to ensure there is a change.

I will now take us through filing process at the Magistrate
Courts.

Unlike the High Courts, the Magistrate Courts are not yet linked
to the Judicial Information Service (JIS) portal so everything is
still manual.

1. Take your file to the Assistant Chief Registrar (ACR) of the
Magistrate Court in the District where you want to file your suit
for initialling (please note that the ACRs are only located in
specific areas in Lagos so find the one in the area you want to
file the action)

2. Go to the cash office for assessment and payment (note: any
payment above N2, 000 will have to be paid at a specific bank at a
specific location)

3. After payment, obtain your receipts and take your file to the
Process section (the only thing they do here is to write the suit
number and the name of the parties on the file jacket)

4. Take your file back to the ACR, who gives you a return date
and sends your file to the Chief Magistrate in charge of assigning
cases for the case to be assigned to a court within the district
(this can be done on the same day or you may be asked to return
after a week)

5. The service copy of your process is sent to the sheriff
department for service (we all know what that means…..you need to
follow up on this otherwise you can’t go on with your case)

There is no point analysing the problems we face going through
this whole process, money is demanded of the lawyer at every stage
of the filing process not to mention the fact that you may have to
travel a long distance to the designated bank which may have
network issues etc. the truth is that filing may take up to 2 or 3
days to conclude under this filing regime at the magistrate
court.

What is worrisome is the extortive behaviour of court officials
in the filing process. Lawyers and litigants alike are harassed and
extorted. This causes frustration and further erodes the perceived
integrity of the Judiciary. People lose confidence in the judiciary
because if they have to bribe at this early stage just to file a
matter, what will be required of them when the case begins?

We at FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN THE JUDICIARY (FIACIJ) with
the support of all the Branches of the NBA in Lagos are calling on
all lawyers to stand their ground against corrupt practices in our
Magistrate Courts. If you need assistance, call us and we will
stand with you to resist it.

You are encouraged to report all extortive behaviour to the
Chief Magistrate or any Magistrate within the Court when faced with
this challenges or call/watsapp 08065172866.
STOP GIVING A BRIBE TODAY – YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM IF YOU
DO

(FIACIJ is a message and nationwide movement – join us by
Resisting, Refusing and Reporting Corrupt Practices in our
Courts)

A few months back, I gave a step by step guide to filing a
matter in the High Courts of Lagos State. I concluded that the
process was flawed in so many ways despite the beautiful
innovations put in place by the Lagos State judiciary to make the
process faster and easier. The human interface in the filing
process has caused great hardship and encouraged corruption in the
judiciary – this is regrettable.

I am however glad that the new Chief Judge of Lagos is making
efforts to see that the filing process and indeed other issues of
court services and business are carried out with speed and
efficiency. It will however take some time and will the need the
cooperation of all court users to ensure there is a change.

I will now take us through filing process at the Magistrate
Courts.

Unlike the High Courts, the Magistrate Courts are not yet linked
to the Judicial Information Service (JIS) portal so everything is
still manual.

1. Take your file to the Assistant Chief Registrar (ACR) of the
Magistrate Court in the District where you want to file your suit
for initialling (please note that the ACRs are only located in
specific areas in Lagos so find the one in the area you want to
file the action)

2. Go to the cash office for assessment and payment (note: any
payment above N2, 000 will have to be paid at a specific bank at a
specific location)

3. After payment, obtain your receipts and take your file to the
Process section (the only thing they do here is to write the suit
number and the name of the parties on the file jacket)

4. Take your file back to the ACR, who gives you a return date
and sends your file to the Chief Magistrate in charge of assigning
cases for the case to be assigned to a court within the district
(this can be done on the same day or you may be asked to return
after a week)

5. The service copy of your process is sent to the sheriff
department for service (we all know what that means…..you need to
follow up on this otherwise you can’t go on with your case)

There is no point analysing the problems we face going through
this whole process, money is demanded of the lawyer at every stage
of the filing process not to mention the fact that you may have to
travel a long distance to the designated bank which may have
network issues etc. the truth is that filing may take up to 2 or 3
days to conclude under this filing regime at the magistrate
court.

What is worrisome is the extortive behaviour of court officials
in the filing process. Lawyers and litigants alike are harassed and
extorted. This causes frustration and further erodes the perceived
integrity of the Judiciary. People lose confidence in the judiciary
because if they have to bribe at this early stage just to file a
matter, what will be required of them when the case begins?

We at FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN THE JUDICIARY (FIACIJ) with
the support of all the Branches of the NBA in Lagos are calling on
all lawyers to stand their ground against corrupt practices in our
Magistrate Courts. If you need assistance, call us and we will
stand with you to resist it.

You are encouraged to report all extortive behaviour to the
Chief Magistrate or any Magistrate within the Court when faced with
this challenges or call/watsapp 08065172866.
STOP GIVING A BRIBE TODAY – YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM IF YOU
DO

(FIACIJ is a message and nationwide movement – join us by
Resisting, Refusing and Reporting Corrupt Practices in our
Courts)