Valley of Decisions: Biography and Essays in Honour of Hon. Justice Iorhemen Hwande

Chapter Twelve - Is a Practising Lawyer/Judge in Nigeria an Anachronism?

Chapter Twelve Is a Practising Lawyer/Judge in Nigeria an Anachronism? Peter Ocheme* Introduction The entry point or prescribed minimum attainment for our discussion. which ipso facto, becomes thebenchmark, below whichnothingbutproliferationmakes meaning in the Faith we profess inJesus Orrist and inthe practice ofLaw either at theBarorthe Bench, is thatthereishardly aworthy Ouistian Lawyer - nay a Judge - who is not conscious of the onus of theneighbour principles. Inotherwords, in these later days, neither the teacher of law! nor the practising lawyer2 can justifiably ask the question: "Who is my neighour?"3 This minimumbenchmarkissofor theOuistianLawyer,because, * Peter Ochem.e, Ph.D., (Barrister-at-Law), teaches at the Faculty of Law, Bcnue State University, Makurdi. I Nihil Obstat: R.C. Fuller, Good News Bible, St Pauls, Mumbai, India,1976, Gospel of Luke 10:25·29. 2 See Section 4 of the Legal Practitioners Act, Cap LIt Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. (hereinafter referred to as "LPA"). 3 Luke 10: 29. 169 170 Valley ofDecisions havingbeenadmonished' andinstructed,'his answerwillnot only be in legal accord with Lord Atkins in the case of Donoghue v. Stevenson6 , but also withJesus in His parable of the Good Samaritan.' How much of this assumption is takenby the reader of this piece determines the level of subscriptionorotherwise to the philosophy developed inthisArticle . Alas! it is the failure by so many to remain as faithful as required either to the Catechism or the Ethics ofthe legal profession that has given birth to the streams of such deviants who claim to be both Christians and Lawyers inthe variety of our times. This is not to crown Christianity as being any betterthanthe otherreligions, sinceJesusneither condemned any religionbut rather worshipped in the synagogue of any territoryhe wentto. ThisArticle, therefore, does not pretend tohave investigated the justifications (if any) for such deviations , but seeks to reiterate that anyone who does so willnot escape the wrath ofearthly or eternal justice, and ipso facto, urge allto believe and obey. The positiontakenbythisArticle is that there can be a truly practising Christian Lawyer- (and ofcourse, a Judge), and evennon-Christians lawyers attainingeternal glorywith God, whenwe consider the warning given to the Apostles against their query for those who were notintheir campsbutyet could cast outthe devil inthe name ofJesus8 • 4 Ibid. verses 30-36. 5 Soc Sections 9 and 11 of the LPA. 6 (1932) AC 562. 1 Luke 10: 30-36. 8 S.. M...k 9: 36 -41; of. Luke 9: 49-50. Is a Practising Lawyer/Judge in Nigeria an Anachronism? 171 Dilemmas for the Christian Lawyer ofallAges Because thepractice oflaw at alltimes andinallplaces relates tothe critical relationshipsbetween God and man9 onthe one hand andbetweenmanandhisfellowman, thebiblicalstories havebeenverymuchtoldofthenumerousencountersbetween JesusandtheLawyers.l0Thejuxtapositionoftheaboveanathema can equally be gleaned from the array of "Advocates" who todayparadeourcourts andsocialservicesystemsinthename of"Lawyers". The Legal Profession as practised in Nigeria todayllispollutedwithallmannerofpersonswiththeirhangover ofidiosyncrasiestakingontothe course oflifewithoutdefined objectives. Whatbecomes apparent is thatwhenthe ambers ofthe Legal profession as currently conceived and practised within the Nigeriansociety are fanned againstthevirtues ofOrristianity, there appears a clap ofirreconcilable flames ofdiscontent and dissatisfaction, ifnotdespair. Insuch a circumstance, it takes only the Grace of God as dispensed through His Son Jesus Christ, for a true Orristianto practice lawinNigeria orfor the Nigerian lawyer to aspire to true Christianity. And as itwas difficultfor theSadduceesandthePharisees,12itislittlewonder why so many of us, either at the Bar or at the Bench, have deviatednotonlyfrom ourBaptismalvowsbutalsofrom our professionalresponsibilities attheBarandtheBench.Although this writerhas nottasted the pills atthe Bench, he fears ifitis any sweater. 9 Because this Article is gender sensitive, all references to man and his derivatives, except expressly stated otherwise, refer mutatis mutandis to woman and her derivatives. 10 For example, see Mathew 9: 14-17; 15: 1-9; 10-20, etc. 11 Today is a relative term to be kept by this Paper as referring to times after the last decade of the 20th century. 12 See Mathew 23: 1·8; cf. Mark 12: 38, 39; Luke 11: 43-46; 20: 45, 46. 172 Valley ofDecisions The moral ofthiswrite-up lies is inreiteratingthevirtues13 as against the vices14all of whichbacon to every lawyer, nay a Judge. And for the Orristianlawyer or aJudge, thesebecome greaterhurdlesto cross, giventhebiblicalencountersbetween the Sadducees and Pharisees on the one hand and Jesus on the otherhand;15 not leastminding the attendantwamings16 handed down ateach of such encounters in particular. Inotherwords, there are apparentdilemmasforuswho chose tobe calledtothesetwo importantpostsoflife! Theexperience recounted here represents the struggles between these two importantpostsoflife- bothofwhicharenecessaryentrances to the Eternal Kingdom promisedbyJesus Christ - Himself beingtheMostHighAdvocate! These dilemmaswereforeseen and...