Code of Conduct: Examining Its Place in the Nigerian Judicial Hierarchy

By Olisa Agbakoba, SAN

The Code of Ethics Tribunal issued a warrant for the arrest of Justice Walter Onnoghen, former Chief Justice of the Federation. This raised many questions about the place of the Tribunal in the judicial hierarchy.

In each society, courts play a central role in the organization and maintenance of public order. The Nigerian courts are creations of the constitution which in turn sets their jurisdictional limits.

In the same spirit, some organs are created by the constitution for the same purpose of maintaining law and order. One of these bodies is the court charged with the code of conduct.

Code of Conduct Tribunal On January 14, 2019, Nigerians learned that Nigeria's Chief Justice, Judge Walter Onnoghen, had to be brought before the Court of First Instance for allegedly not declaring his property.

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As a result of the above, the President suspended the President of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on the basis of an ex parte order of the court under the code of conduct asking him to suspend his term of office.

This article would try to explain the place of the court of code of ethics in the judicial hierarchy.

THE COURT OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT

The Code of Conduct Tribunal is established by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999.

The Tribunal is entitled to try civil servants for violations of the Code of Ethics Act and the Tribunal.

The Tribunal is further empowered to apply the following penalties: Hire a position or seat in a legislature, as the case may be; Prohibition to belong to a legislature and to hold any public office for a period not exceeding 10 years; and Seizure and confiscation of property acquired as a result of corruption or abuse of authority.

The decision of the court is appealable from the decision of the court of appeal. The Tribunal's decision does not preclude the accused being sued in a court of competent jurisdiction for a criminal charge.

The decision of the court is appealable from the decision of the court of appeal. The Tribunal's decision does not prevent the accused from being prosecuted in a court of competent jurisdiction.

JUDICIAL POWERS AND CODE OF CONDUCT TRIBUNAL

Court Code of Conduct to determine whether or not the Code of Conduct Court is empowered to exercise judicial powers, reference is made to the Constitution, which gives the judiciary the duty to rule on matters; headed and supervised by the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

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Section 6 (5) of the Constitution confers judicial powers on the following courts:

(a) The Supreme Court of Nigeria; b) the court of appeal; (c) the Federal High Court; (d) The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; e) a high court of a state; (f) The Shari'a Court of Appeal for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; (g) A Sharia Court of Appeals of a State; (h) The Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; i) A customary court of call of a state.

The foregoing results in the fact that the Code of Ethics Court is not a court with judicial powers under the Constitution. In addition, officials of the Code of Conduct Court are not officers of justice within the meaning of Article 318 of the Constitution.

In addition, it can also be argued that in addition to the nine courts enumerated in subsection 6 (5) of the Constitution, the Constitution only recognizes a superior court of record, as provided for by an Act of Parliament. the National Assembly; and a superior court of record, as provided by a law of the House of Assembly of a State.

Section 6 (3) of the Constitution provides that: "The courts to which this Article relates, established by this Constitution and specified in paragraphs 5 (a) to (i) of this Article, are the only superior courts of Nigeria; and unless otherwise provided by the National Assembly or the House of Assembly of a State. "

After a careful reading of the relevant provisions of the Code of Ethics Act and the Constitution, it may be argued that the court did not qualify the Upper Court Code of Conduct Act.

THE PLACE OF THE TRIBUNAL OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT

Code of Conduct Tribunal Once it has been established that the Constitution does not confer any judicial power on the court, the problem now is: what powers can the court exercise?

The Code of Conduct Tribunal was created to be an administrative tribunal, independent of the executive and the judiciary exercising jurisdiction over public officials.

Recently, the Code of Ethics Tribunal stated in Justice Onnoghen that it was not bound by the decisions of the High Court, since it was an equal jurisdiction, but only Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

However, the Court of Appeal has not ruled on the above and it would be interesting to know the result.

In conclusion, an attempt to place the Code of Ethics Tribunal in the judicial hierarchy would be futile.

Although the Tribunal exercises certain forms of judicial powers, only one administrative body remains. The court of the court and the discipline committee of the jurists are examples of such a body.

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