Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, yesterday warned that the National Judicial Council (NJC) would not spare any judge that failed to deliver the required number of judgments in a quarter.

The CJN, who was addressing the Third Annual National Judicial Council (NJC) Conference on Judges’ Performance Evaluation in Abuja, recalled that at the last meeting of the performance evaluation committee, there was a reduction in case disposal as some judicial officers failed to deliver a single judgment in one quarter, which, she said, was unacceptable.

“Unless we can justly, speedily and effectively execute our roles as judicial officers, the populace will lose confidence in the judiciary as it is mostly believed, rightly or wrongly, that the judicial process is often painstakingly slow and tedious, delayed justice is denied justice,” she said.

The CJN called on judges to embrace the culture of excellence and accountability and be in charge of their courtrooms, maximising the use of case management system and fostering an environment where constructive feedback was valued and acted upon.

Performance metrics, she said, should not merely be about speed, but also about the quality and impact of the decisions of judges. On the increasing number of pending cases and low disposition rates, Kekere-Ekun said: “As of the first quarter of 2024, we had a total of 243,253 cases pending in our superior courts of record, exclusive of the Supreme Court. This total is comprised of 199,747 civil cases and 43,506 criminal cases.

“Therefore, it is imperative for all of us to take a serious note of this alarming situation and refocus our attention towards enhancing our judicial performance”, she added.

She encouraged judges to explore information technology options and case management innovations to enhance judicial performance, adding that the introduction of digital case management systems, the Judicial Performance Evaluation Software (JPES), virtual courtrooms, e-filing systems, digital databases, web seminars, online meetings and advanced research engines provide a myriad of tools would facilitate efficiency in case disposition.

The CJN described the increase in the salaries and allowances of judicial officers by President Bola Tinubu as a remarkable achievement and a step in the right direction to promote the independence of the judiciary and impact on the professionalism, quality and pace of justice in the country.

Earlier in his speech, the Chairman of the six-member Performance Evaluation Committee, retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Sidi Bage Muhammad, lamented the consistently low performance of some judicial officers despite the continuous guidance given by his committee.

The situation, he disclosed, informed the decision of the NJC, at its 106th meeting that henceforth, any judicial officer, who was assessed as having persistently poor performance should be identified and recommended by the committee for removal from office.