Unilag Faculty Of Law Honours Newly Elevated Professors

Prof. Yemi Oke; Prof Oni , Prof. Abugu (SAN); Prof Oyewo (SAN); Hon. Justice Helen Ogunwumiju (JSc); Mr. Ade Ipaye Deputy Chief of Staff to the President; Prof. L. O Chukwu Dvc Management Services, Unilag; Prof. Atsenuwa Dvc Development Services, Prof Ayoade At The Event

Unilag Faculty Of Law Honours Newly Elevated Professors

The Faculty of Law, University of Lagos (Unilag) recently celebrated four of their lecturers, who were newly appointed as Professors of Law.

The newly appointed Professors are: Professor Nwudego. O. Chinwuba; Professor Babatunde A. Oni; Professor Adedayo M. Ayoade and Professor Adeyemi Abdulganiu Oke.

Others also honoured by the faculty for the feat are a former Dean of the faculty, Prof Ayo Atsenuwa, who was recently elected Deputy Vice Chancellor (DVC Development Services), another former Dean of the faculty, Prof Oyelowo Oyewo, now Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Oyo State, who was elevated to the rank of SAN and a former Head of Commercial and Industrial Law of the faculty, Prof Joseph Abugu, was also elevated to the silk rank.

Speaking at the event, the Dean of the faculty, Professor Ige Bolodeoku, attributed the feat achieved by the honoraries to hard work and commitment to excellence. Adding that the event was put together due to the love that exist among members of the faculty, which he said “is the foundation of the growth we are witnessing”.

Professor Lucian Chukwu, the institution’s Deputy Vice Chancellor (Management Services) who represented the Vice Chancellor, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, hailed the faculty for making the university proud.

Professor Chukwu said the Faculty of Law has always been known for excellence. Saying that the university will support the faculty of Law in its bid to grow from excellence to distinction.

The nation’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), who was represented by Mr. Ade Ipaye, the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, who was the chairman of the event, said he feel great joy that the faculty retains its pride of place among peers in Africa, produces the best and attracts the best. 

The guest speaker at the event, a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Justice Helen Ogunwumiju, urged law teachers to do more to improve the quality of judgments through constructive criticisms.

Justice Ogunwumiju said she believes legal academics are well placed to offer useful suggestions for reforms through academic papers, legal opinions and other critical interventions.

According to her: “Given that academic writings contain information, arguments and opinions that are relevant to decision-making, a large volume of academic writing should be especially directed at judges suggesting and sometimes criticising decided cases”

On whether judges should take judicial notice of legal research findings, Justice Ogunwumiju said: “The nature of law is transformational. The work of lawyers in the Ivory Tower, which is based on research, can assist judges in gaining awareness of the underlying reasons why some decisions must be made and offer useful suggestions for reform.

“No principled approach to decision-making can ignore the contributions of academics, who had over time analysed and done research on the subject-matter.

“As judges, we rely on stare decisis. We may be set in a rut, while the whole world had moved on in respect of a particular position. Academic papers can persuade us out of our set positions. After all, law is a living thing, and must be expanded to fit in with the times.

“What I find useful is an academic commentary which assembles and rationalises judicial decisions in a given field of law, draws out the general principles that these judicial decisions imply, criticises the judicial decisions and suggests different approaches where necessary to that particular area of law. 

“There is a vast difference between legal opinion and legal analysis. The judge may agree with the legal analysis of a legal problem, but not necessarily agree with the opinion of the academic to resolve judicial conflict. In the end, judges decide the live issues in controversy between persons with conflicting interests.

“We need the academics who have no reason to be in favour of or against a decision and who are not worried about the repercussions of expressing their full reviews to speak up to energise the system.

“When judgments are good, they are supposed to commend the judges, and when judgments are per incuriam, they are supposed to criticise the judges.“The academics should compare the judgments with the antecedents, precedents, the common law position, the current statutory innovations around the world and come up with a conclusion as to whether the judgment is reasonable, whether the position of the law needs to be changed, and suggest directions for change. No legal position is set in stone. Law must be stable, but not standstill.

“Just like other social service providers, judges must be receptive to fair comments and fair criticism. We are ready to learn from law journals. In other jurisdictions, there are the Cambridge Law Review and the Harvard Law Review, which are highly respected law journals.

“I don’t see why a UNILAG Quarterly Law Review journal is not in existence, and if it is, why it is not a respected and powerful tool of assessment and review of judgments of our superior courts.

“The opinions in the reviews can be cited as persuasive authorities to entrench or shift some positions, particularly at the Supreme Court, which is a policy court. Academic lawyers have more time and resources to do deeper research and avail us of their work.

“There is no reason why 10 or 15 of my judgments on substantial issues of law should not have been analysed by academics to know what type of justice I’d be. 

“None of the justices of the Supreme Court appointed last year spent less than 10 years at the Court of Appeal. The academic community should have been able to say: ‘Ogunwumiju is likely to be a conservative or a liberal justice of the Supreme Court’.

“The review of past work of justices considered for appointment should be the academic contribution to move the justice system forward, instead of going on the morning show to criticise us.

“This also can help the National Judicial Council (NJC) make an objective assessment of our work with a view to knowing who is worthy of elevation.”

Others guests at the event includes: Professor Taiwo Osipitan (SAN); Justice Bolaji Ojo, the President Appeal Customary Court; Dr. Simon Akaayar of Department of Commerce and Industrial Law, Unilag; Dr. Muiz Banire (SAN) and others.