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Supreme Court · 2012
May a state remove its Chief Judge without the involvement of the National Judicial Council?
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This decision is reported in the Nigerian law reports. Locate it by its case name in a law report series or through the court's own record, and read the judgment before relying on it.
The question the court actually had to answer. Everything a judgment settles flows from this, and nothing beyond it does.
May a state remove its Chief Judge without the involvement of the National Judicial Council?
A state Chief Judge was removed by the state's executive and legislature without recourse to the National Judicial Council.
The Supreme Court held the removal invalid.
The Constitution's scheme requires the National Judicial Council's involvement in the discipline and removal of judicial officers, and the state organs could not act alone.
Stated narrowly, as the case is genuinely cited for — not stretched into the broader proposition it is often summarised as.
The removal of a judicial officer requires the constitutional role of the National Judicial Council to be respected.
Our explanation of what the decision means for an ordinary reader. It is not the judgment.
Judges are meant to decide cases without worrying about who they upset. That only works if they cannot be removed at the pleasure of the politicians whose actions they review.
The Constitution puts a national body in the path of any removal, and this decision confirms that the step cannot be skipped.
The part most summaries leave out, and the part that most often causes a case to be cited for something it never decided.
Named generally. Read the official text of any instrument you intend to rely on.
This decision is reported in the Nigerian law reports. Locate it by its case name in a law report series or through the court's own record, and read the judgment before relying on it.
Subject area: Court & Legal Process