PREMIUM TIMES gathered that judges serving in the area had switched to virtual hearings due to frequent attacks by kidnappers along the Ugwogo-Opi-Nsukka Road in Enugu State.
Lawyers in Enugu North District, Enugu State, protested on Tuesday the refusal of judges across the zone to hold physical proceedings, years after they had resorted to virtual proceedings.
They threatened to boycott further virtual court proceedings unless urgent reforms were carried out in the zone and judges resumed physical proceedings.
The lawyers, PREMIUM TIMES gathered, were drawn from five judicial divisions in Nsukka Zone which are Nsukka, Obollo-Afor, Enugu-Ezike, Ogbede and Umulokpa.
Speaking during the protest which was held across the five divisions, the Chairman of the Nsukka Branch of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Sunday Agbo, said the judges had earlier announced they were switching to virtual proceedings over insecurity in the area.
“We all welcomed that; we accepted it hoping that things would improve. For three years now, clerks from the various courts have been using their mobile phones to video the judges in the form of (conducting) virtual hearings,” he said.
Mr Agbo said the situation had forced lawyers to sit side-by-side with opposition witnesses during cross-examination in which the witnesses occasionally threaten to beat up a lawyer who is conducting the cross-examination.
The NBA chairman said the lawyers want the Enugu State Government to adequately equip all the courtrooms with the necessary facilities that will make virtual proceedings efficient.
“We are not saying that virtual hearings should be stopped. But we are saying that let these judicial divisions be equipped with modern facilities that will make virtual proceedings efficient,” he stated.
One of the protesting lawyers, Frank Agbowo, told PREMIUM TIMES on the telephone after the protest that the judges had switched to virtual hearings due to frequent attacks by kidnappers along Ugwogo-Opi-Nsukka Road which they must fly from Enugu metropolis to access the Nsukka area.
Mr Agbowo argued that the switch to virtual proceedings by the judges had not served the purpose of justice because of some inadequacies of the arrangement.
“Sometimes, the judge needs to watch the witnesses, the behaviour of parties during the proceedings to determine how he or she is going to make his or her decision.
“Again, when we will file (our case) here (in Nsukka) and the clerk will find a way to send the file to Enugu (metropolitan branch of the court),” he said.
Continuing, the lawyer said: “Sometimes, a lot of things get lost. During the virtual proceedings, sometimes we wouldn’t get to hear the judges when they spoke because the network would disrupt the proceedings. So, it is not working.
“Sometimes, a lawyer may have a document in his possession that he needs to tender. But the judge may not see the document and the other counsel on the opposition side will not be able to examine the document.
“This is because if a lawyer is joining from Lagos, another lawyer is joining from Nsukka while the judge is sitting in Enugu, the judge will not know the document one of the lawyers is tendering to know whether it meets the requirements of the Evidence Act before it is received.”
He contended that virtual proceedings were acceptable in law but stressed that such arrangements are recommended for minor cases such as pre-trial proceedings and motions, not in substantive matters.
Mr Agbowo recalled that they had written to various authorities including Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State and the state chief judge, but the situation had persisted.
The lawyer said the protest was among the first actions that NBA leadership in the zone had decided to take to reverse the situation.
“Secondly, we are not going to attend any court. In fact, all the courts in the zone will be grounded. We are shutting down the courts until those judges resume physical sittings,” he said.
