Role of law officers to the judiciary – Part 2

Abuse of fiat by private prosecutor 
The over-arching Constitutional power of the Attorney General as the Chief Law Officer, to initiate and conduct criminal proceedings come with the power to grant fiat to private prosecutors to conduct criminal proceedings on behalf of the Attorney General. Very often, the spate of unsupervised use of the fiat, some of which were procured without due diligence, resulted in abuse. The situation declined to the level that some even use expired fiat or disguised appearance without any valid fiat. 

The Memo partly reads: “I therefore respectfully request your Lordship to enthrone respect for constitutionally derived authority and due process, by ensuring that any counsel (with the exception of state counsel from Ministry of Justice, Edo State) who does not present a fiat from myself or my predecessor is denied appearance as he is acting without my authority and instruction. is for your kind attention and attention of their Lordships in various Divisions in Nigeria. I remain grateful for your gracious intervention…” 
  
As the learned former Attorney General of Edo State rightly did, it is the responsibility of the Chief Law Officer to bring to the attention of the Judiciary such anomaly, so that the courts would invoke the rule of competence of counsel to appear in a matter for a party in a suit, to stem the tide of such abuse.

The duty of court to ascertain competence of counsel in proceedings before it has been re-emphasised in Onyeka v. Ogbonna [2013] 11 NWLR (Pt. 1366) C.A. 462 @ Pp. 485-486, paras. G-A, 486, paras.D-F thus: “It is a tradition in the courts that when a matter is called upon for hearing, that counsel for the parties (where represented) will first announce their appearance and then proceed to conduct the matter on behalf of their clients.

It follows, therefore, that the competence of such counsel to appear in the said matter must be ascertained or assured before being allowed by the court to conduct the case. Thus, it is not only expedient but germane to establish the status of counsel in a matter vis-a-vis the parties they represent before they can proceed to conduct their cases.

In this case, the respondents’ motion to restrain the appellants touched on their competence to act in the matter, and by extension the competence of the notice of preliminary objection filed on behalf of the 2nd defendant. As such, the trial court was right to have considered and determined the said motion first”. This practice also helps to detect fake lawyers and resolve issues of conflicting representation of a party in court proceedings. 

Exploring the criminal jurisdiction of the national industrial court for prosecution of employment/workplace-related criminal conducts 
The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NIC) apart from being a master of civil proceedings, having been imbued with exclusive jurisdiction on civil matters relating to or arising from labour, employment and workplace and connected matters, it also has jurisdiction, though concurrent, over criminal matters arising from matters it has civil jurisdiction, going by the provisions of S.254C (5) of the extant Constitution.

It reads: “The National Industrial Court shall have and exercise jurisdiction and powers in criminal causes and matters arising from any cause or matter of which jurisdiction is conferred on the National Industrial Court by this section or any other Act of the National Assembly or by any other law.”

Notwithstanding the laudable criminal jurisdiction provision for the court, record shows that some States inclusive of Imo and Abia States under Owerri Division of the NIC, are yet to utilise the opportunity of the criminal jurisdiction of the NIC, to prosecute workplace related criminal conducts, such as abuse of office, workplace corruption, child labour, human trafficking and inhuman treatment of workers, etc.

Neither Prosecutorial Agencies nor the Law Officers of the States have activated the criminal jurisdiction of the NIC in this sort of matters. Many a time, in a matter arising from workplace which presents both civil and criminal dimensions, the Prosecutor would file the criminal charge in another court, and after the criminal case is dismissed at that court, the person would return again to NIC for civil case for reinstatement or damages claims.

This would result in bifurcated proceedings, which would have been obviated if the criminal charge was filed at the NIC which also has jurisdiction to address the civil aspect that could arise if the criminal trial fails. Adopting proximate rule would favour a court with jurisdictional capacity to settle all issues in a case.

Just recently, the Supreme Court in FBN Plc & Anor v. Ben-Segba Technical Services Ltd & Anor (2024) LPELR-62998(SC), held that: “The law is well settled that where there is a Court that has capacity or jurisdiction to settle all issues in a case, that court alone should be approached to hear the issues. There is no room for selective justice and there must not be any room for a fragmented justice as was anticipated by the respondents in this case”. Law Officers should therefore, take note of this responsibility to commence suit appropriately. 

Conclusion  
The pre-eminent role of the legal profession in any form of governance structure, particularly in democratic dispensation, places lawyers in a position of public scrutiny and expectation for performance. In democratic setting, the legal profession is somewhat amply positioned in the national governance, and lawyers bear the blame of governance misfeasance, as they are considered as social crusaders and purveyors of human rights, as well as harbingers of greater wisdom and voice of agitation for good governance.

So, whether operating as law officer or at judiciary, being of common stock without societal distinction of roles-margin, there is need for synergic professional relationship in discharge of the noble but onerous responsibility of pursuing interest of justice and seeking the cause of justice, which is the core mandate of the legal profession in service to humanity, ordained by God and recognised by all forms of government throughout human history- the nobility of legal profession!
Concluded.
Ogbuanya, a judge of the National Industrial Court, presented this at the 2024 Law Week of the Law Officers Association of Nigeria (LOAN) Imo State Branch.