Supreme Court Swears in 72 SANs at Opening of New Legal Year …As CJN warns lawyers to shun act capable of derailing democracy

...new SAN calls for increase in award of SAN rank The Supreme Court on Monday conferred the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on 72 legal practitioners. The conferment, which formed part of activities marking the commencement of the 2020/21 new legal year, was performed by Justice Bode Rhodes-Vuvour on behalf of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, and accompanied by 16 other Justices of the Supreme Court. Rhodes-Vivour, who noted that the new SANs emerged successful from a total of 172 earlier shortlisted for the rank, urged them to be more committed to their work and the legal profession, an attitude he said earned them the rank in the first place. The event, which was held at the main courtroom of the Supreme Court, started exactly by 10 a.m. and was in strict compliance with the COVID-19 protocols, as a lot of dignitaries, including spouses of awardees, were barred from the main courtroom. Among the new SANs are the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offence Commission (ICPC), Professor Bolaji Owasanoye; Akwa Ibom State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Uwemedimo Nwoko; Delta State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Peter Mrakpo, and Uzoma Azikiwe. Justice Rhodes-Vivour said: "It is the fervent desire of every legal practitioner in Nigeria to be a Senior Advocate, but it doesn't come that way, as hard work, perseverance, endurance and courage are required to touch the finishing line. You must roll up your sleeves and get down to work with unrestrained enthusiasm and dexterity; then you can begin to coast home to victory. "Legal practice is not for the mentally docile or those averse to breaking new grounds, even in the face of daunting challenges." The Justice, who described the outgoing legal year as "an unusual year in the history of mankind, that many wished it never existed,” noted that the judiciary, in spite of the enormous challenge, was able to hear 697 civil, 168 criminal and 35 political cases totaling 700 out of 908 cases filed in 2019/2020 legal year. "In the same vein, the court considered a total number of 208 appeals, being 134 civil, 52 criminal and 22 political appeals. In all, a total number of 189 judgments were given within the legal year under review,” he said. Meanwhile, the CJN used the occasion to warn against certain behaviour of some lawyers, which he said had become a source of serious concern, adding that severe sanctions would henceforth be meted out to any unprofessional conduct exhibited by such persons. While urging lawyers to show ability and capacity to counsel their clients rightly and "not mislead them for pecuniary gains," he stressed that "obedience of lawful court orders has no alternative in any society. A threat to this is simply a call for anarchy.” In his contribution, the Attorney General of the Federal and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), admonished the newly-sworn in SANs to uphold justices at all times and work for smooth cause of justices. According to him, "As a leader of the bar and defender of the law, a senior advocate is expected to bring to bear on the profession high standard of diligence, honour and preparation of his cases." Malami, who was represented by the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Mr. Dayo Apata, also reminded them that their new status "confers no immunity on the disciplinary processes of our noble profession." He noted that Judges, not being wholly free to defend themselves, are peculiarly entitled to receive the support of the bar against unjust criticism and clamour. Also, the National President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Olumide Akpata, in his remark, called for improved welfare for judicial officers at all levels, adding that it is high time true autonomy was installed for the judiciary, which according to him, is often the neglected arm of government. Akpata noted that the "fight against corruption is best fought by tackling the incentives for corruption such as the extremely inadequate compensation packages for our judicial and public officers generally." Meanwhile, the NBA president charged the National Judicial Council (NJC) not to relent in its efforts to rid the bench of corruption, and to continually tackle the issue of indiscipline from judicial officers. In his vote of thanks, Mr. Obafemi Adewale (SAN), who spoke on behalf of the 72 new SANs, while thanking the CJN and the Supreme Court for their conferment, however, called for increase in the number of legal practitioners receiving the award yearly. "We must, however, respectively urge my Lords and the LPPC to please go a step further. In the United Kingdom, from where we copied this tradition, there are about 1,700 barristers on the roll (2019 records), and 1,700 are Queen's Counsel which is about 10 percent. "In Nigeria, on the other hand, we have a little over 120,000 on the roll; an estimated 30,000 of them are in active legal practice. Yet, with the addition of 72 today, the total number of SAN from inception in 1975 is now just 620. "This, in fact, includes the 108, who have passed on to the great beyond. The remaining 512 constitute less than two percent of the total population of lawyers in active practice, and certainly less than one percent of the names on the roll," Adewale said.