Uba sani vs Lawal Adamu Usman (Mr La)

By: Shiek Abdulaziz Ibn Baaz

Everyone whose rights are affected or who is accused of any wrong-doing has the right to legal recourse. Such recourse is only useful if the quality of the administration of justice meets minimum requirements. In this respect the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and our national Convention on Human Righs clearly require: ‘a competent, independent and impartial tribunal’. The right to an independent and impartial tribunal established by law contains both objective and subjective elements. The objective requirements are mainly institutional, demanding the separation of powers within the constitutional structure of the country. The subjective element requires that any semblance of dependence must be avoided by the (members of the) tribunal. They should avoid any act, attitude or comment which may lead to doubts among litigants as to the independence of the tribunal. Such avoidance is also part of the necessary impartiality of the judiciary.

The separation of the executive and the judicial branches of government is particularly important in securing the basis for the independence of the judiciary. Clearly, the independent and impartial position of judges is the crucial point: if the government or other authorities can remove judges at will, their institutional independence is not secured. Furthermore, if the courts or the judges are under the control or influence of non-judicial entities, their independence and impartiality may be impaired. Such control may be exercised through conditions of payment of judges, the possibility for other branches of government to issue instructions to courts, or threats of transfers of judges to other posts should their decisions not conform to expectations or instructions.

Independence of the judiciary
Many authorities and NGOs, such as the International Commission of Jurists, consider independence of the judiciary as the most important component of an effective court. Without independence, the recourse to a court is of limited value. The problems linked with the independence of judges vary in different parts of the world, ranging from salary bargaining schemes to judges being threatened physically. Independence has been the subject of many debates.

One relevant instrument in this context is Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary,

On the case of Hon lawal Adamu Usman (Mr La) the Applicant and Senator Uba Sani the Respondent must not involve external powers or influence, the judiciary must be allowed to carry out there duties based on the facts presented by both parties during the trials.

I am still optimistic Mr La will reclaim his stolen mandate In shaa Allah