LAYMAN'S RIGHT OF AUDIENCE IN THE NIGERIAN COURTS

Good afternoon,  friends.

A friend of mine who is a keen reader of law books has asked me if he can appear in court to conduct his case himself without a lawyer even though he is not a lawyer.


THE LEGAL POSITION

Section 46 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides for the special jurisdiction of the High Court of each state of the federation to entertain application for redress of the actual, possible or continuous infringement of any of fundamental human rights of any individual there.It should be noted that the law does not state that such application must be made by an aggrieved person's lawyer but the law only states that such person may apply for redress.So,by this provision, whether an aggrieved person should apply through his lawyer or he should apply personally is a question to be determined by the person himself and the law does not impose it on him to seek redress through a legal practitioner. In other words, it is not a must that a lawyer must appear for him.Whether  a lawyer should appear for him or not is a matter of personal choice.


Even in criminal proceedings, it is not a must that a person must be represented by a legal practitioner to defend himself.Section 36 (6)(c) provides that a person charged with a criminal offence shall be entitled to defend himself in person or by, legal practitioners of his choice.In fact, proviso (d) to that subsection 6 further provides that cross-examination of witnesses called against an accused person in criminal proceedings  and even examination-in-chief of his own witnesses  may be done by him in person and not necessarily by a legal practitioner  representing him.It is further provided in this proviso that an accused person in criminal proceedings is entitled to examine all documents to be tendered against him in evidence in person and not necessarily by a legal practitioner acting for him.


As can be seen all this is the work of a barrister prosecuting or defending his client's case in court.The law does not say that a person must not personally prosecute or defend his case but in practice and reality, it is only advisable that a person, who is involved in a court case either as the plaintiff or defendant in a civil matter or as the accused person in a criminal matter, should get a counsel to handle his case for him.


Apart from the fact that legal practice, generally, is a very technical field, a person personally prosecuting or defending his own case may not get the calmness needed to do the job even as a lawyer.This is one of the reasons why you see lawyers still engaging fellow lawyers to handle their cases for them as litigants or as accused persons as the case may be.Besides, in view of the heavy criminal punishment awaiting the accused person at the end of a criminal trial, if found guilty, it is only wise that an expert should represent him.


Thank you for you attention.


See you tomorrow.