In a move aimed at speeding up the justice delivery process, the Nigerian House of Representatives, on Thursday, passed a bill that would increase the number of Appeal Court Judges from 90 to a minimum of 150.
The bill, sponsored by Hon. Dr. Patrick Umoh representing Ikot Ekpene/Essien Udim/Obot Akara federal constituency of Akwa Ibom State was passed at the plenary presided over by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu.
It argues that the current number of judges is inadequate, particularly in light of the recent creation of new judicial divisions across the country.
It is titled “A bill to amend the Court of Appeal Act, Cap C.36, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 to increase the number of justices of the Court and provide for appointment of a minimum of 6 justices in every Judicial division of the Court for speedy and efficient justice delivery and to improve citizens access to justice and related matters.”
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Leading debate on the general principles of the bill, Hon. Umoh explained that by the Court of Appeal (Amendment) Act 2005, the number of justices of the Court including it’s president was fixed at 70.
“There is a high increase in the volume of cases attended to by the Court, which of course has necessitates the creation of the new divisions.
“This implies increased work load with fewer hands, which therefore affects quick dispensation at the appellate level,” he said.
The lawmaker noted that “Most of the divisions of the Court do not have up to 6 justices, implying that two panels of the Court cannot sit simultaneously to attend to cases, which therefore stall expeditious and timeouts hearing and disposition of cases.
“As a matter of fact, judicial divisions of the Court with huge volume of cases like Abuja and Lagos ought to have a minimum of nine judges so that the divisions can have three parallel sittings simultaneously.
“It is necessary to note that it is the same inadequate pool of justices of Court of Appeal that are drawn to sit in Election Appeal Tribunals, thereby compounding delay in justice delivery”, he argued.
He said the Act, when amended will “Increase the quality and soundness of Judicial decisions by making available more hands in adjudication process at the appellate level.”
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