SAN FRANCISCO, October 25, (THEWILL) – The National Judicial Council, NJC, has come up with a policy that bars the media from reporting on details of petitions against judicial officers until the council considers it right for petitions to be made public.
Under the new policy, petitioners willing to file complaints against judicial officers must first depose to an affidavit pledging that no content of such petitions would be made public, by them or by persons known to them.
This is contained in the National Judicial Policy, NJP, and the Judicial Ethics Committee, JEC, launched on Monday in Abuja by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed.
The council stated that even after investigations have already commenced it would discard any petition made public, adding that it would only allow the publication of complaints after investigation had been concluded.
It said, “Where complaints on allegations against judicial officers and court employees are submitted for investigation, the complainant or complainants shall be made to give an undertaking not to do anything to prejudice investigation or actions that may be taken.
“The institutions of the judiciary concerned with investigation or and implementation of decisions taken on such complaints shall be obliged to cease further action where such complaints are leaked or discussed in the media.
“Where such a leakage is occasioned after the submission of a complaint then all investigations on the complaints shall be suspended, the leakage investigated and if such leakage is from the complainant on through other parties known to such a complainant, such a complaint should be discarded.
“Where such leakage is occasioned prior to the presentation of the complaint and the source of the leakage is found to be the complainant or through other parties known to and connected with the complainant then such complaint shall not be accepted, upon submission, by the appropriate disciplinary body.”
“Upon the conclusion of any investigation, the judicial disciplinary bodies may allow public disclosure of their findings, subject to following the proper channels for such disclosure,” the policy posited.
The NJC recently disagreed with Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, which called for the suspension of the judges arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS. The NJC reacted by stating that NBA’s suggestion was “unacceptable”.
Story by Ugonnabo Ngwu.
