15 powerful probe committees have been established by the National Judicial Council (NJC) to look into claims of serious misconduct made against 15 judges of the Federal and State High Courts.
The investigation committees would decide the Judges’ guilt or innocence in the many complaints made against them by people and corporations.
In a statement released by the NJC yesterday in Abuja, its Director of Information, Mr. Soji Oye, stated that the Council’s 99th meeting, presided over by Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, was when the decision to probe the allegedly erring Judges was made.
According to the statement, the decision followed the submission of recommendations from three preliminary complaint assessment committees, which had previously examined 66 petitions from around the federation that had been forwarded to them by the Council.
The investigation target judges, their divisions, and the specifics of their alleged offenses were not named in the statement, though.
However, it was revealed that the Council had rejected petitions against 51 judges from the Federal and State High Courts because they were unfounded, pending litigation, appellate-worthy, or because the judge in question had left the bench.
The statement stated that the reviewed Judicial Information Technology Policy, which set the fundamental needs and duties for the Nigerian Judiciary Systems and Information, was formally presented to the Council.
The policy provides for the guidance of Courts and Judicial Bodies in ensuring Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) of judicial function and process.
Additionally, it includes rules for secure storage of judicial data and recovery procedures in the event of emergencies or distress, guidelines for the permissible use of systems, services, and technology, and more.
In a similar vein, it also offers policies for incident management and the development and utilization of data centers.
The scope is intended for all courts and judicial bodies in Nigeria, as well as any staff members hired by or under contract to judicial bodies that handle information that is generated, received, stored, transmitted, or printed.
It includes all personally identifiable information (PII) kept by their Courts and Judicial Bodies, as well as any supporting procedures and technology for handling that information whether it is at rest or in transit.
The policy and the related standard protocols and procedures that have been put in place to support the document must be followed by all employees.
The Nigerian judicial system’s “policy applies to all Courts units, departments, and judicial bodies.
Council took note of the appointments of judicial officers who had been sworn in as judges of the Federal and State High Courts since being proposed for an appointment at the last meeting.
Reports from the Standing and Ad-hoc Committees of the Council, as well as notices of the retirement of 16 Judges and the death of a Judge from the Federal and State High Courts, were also given during the meeting.
