Idigbe Proffers Solution to Conflicting Court Judgments, Advocates Use of Technology

Wale Igbintade

Global Chairman of the Forum Against Counterfeiting (FAC), Dr. Anthony Idigbe (SAN), has advocated the use of technology to solve the problem of conflicting court judgments.

Idigbe spoke on the sidelines of a retreat on “Judicial independence and judge craft” organised by the National Judicial Institute (NJI) in collaboration with FAC for appellate court justices.

He blamed the problem on the inability to instantly recall similar verdicts on previous cases, saying not all of them are deliberate.

Idigbe believes the problems of delays and congestion can be addressed by leveraging technology and artificial intelligence (AI).

He expects the Supreme Court to resolve them, noting that some of the contradictory verdicts happen over time as hundreds of judgments are delivered dealing with similar subjects.

Idigbe said: “You are talking about thousands of judgments over a period, which results in loss of history.” 

“That is where technology comes in. 

“However, if all these data is stationed within the AI environment, it is possible to manage that issue and ensure we return to the original concept of stare decisis by which precedent is followed.

“The National Judicial Council (NJC) is doing a lot to address it with AI. 

“If everything goes as planned, many of those issues will be eliminated, and where they occur, people can be held accountable for not using the tools.”

Idigbe, a  Senior Partner at Punuka Attorneys and Solicitors, said  it will take political will for the judiciary to be truly independent.

He said: “For the judiciary to be truly independent, you need political will on all sides – executive, legislature and the judiciary.

“There can be very quick transformation with the right investments in the people, processes and technology, and the judiciary will deliver for Nigerians.

“You can have a CJN that has all the good ideas and the passion to deliver, but what happens if there is resistance by the other arms of government?

“You can have a President who wants to make changes but could face resistance or inhibitions from the other arms. The same with the legislature.

“So, the easiest way is for the three arms to agree on the Nigerian agenda, and all obstacles can be overcome.”

Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, who gave the keynote address, stressed the importance of judicial independence and the need for judges to improve on their craft – skills and ethics in dealing with cases.

Also, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana, Victor Jones Mawulorm Dotse, called for the establishment of the West African Court of Appeal with powers to make final decisions on cases from commonwealth countries.

He said: “Before independence, the four West African Commonwealth countries – Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Gambia  –  had the West African Court of Appeal headquartered in Nigeria as their final court of appeal. 

“We had judges from the four countries coming to sit on cases. We may have to consider reviving something like that

“The countries will send judges, and the court will have common headquarters to deal especially with constitutional cases. 

“Judges from different countries will decide cases from others. And they will be under less pressure.

“We have the European Court of Justice where all the European countries go to, so we can have something like that.”

On financial autonomy, Dotse decried delays in funds allocation to the judiciary by the executive, which he said would rather prefer to put funds in areas that will attract votes.

He also said there should be automatic percentage increases in judicial allocations to avoid heads of courts going back and forth to make cases for increased allocations.

“This should be automatic so that judiciary heads don’t have to be going to the executive or Minister of Finance to beg for money,” he said.