PETITIONS, PARTICULARS AND THE PROFESSION: WHAT LAWYERS, LITIGANTS AND THE PUBLIC EXPECT FROM JUDGES

Abstract

There is no doubt that the work of adjudication is not only one of the most arduous but also the most scrutinised tasks in the land. Because it determines the fate of individuals and groups, including a nation, members of the society have very high, sometimes exceedingly high, expectations from those engaged in it. Adjudication is a task that is essentially one person’s but which innumerable multitude of persons have expectations and opinions, founded or unfounded, of what ought to emanate from the seat of judgment. It is perhaps the usual experience of every umpire, from sports to entertainment to the court hall. One unfortunate feature is that those with those expectations rarely inform the adjudicators what they expect in advance but clamp down on them if the expectations are not met. This is more so in judicial adjudication. In the bid to break out of that bind, the article has tried to identify some of the expectations which lawyers, litigants and members of the public expect from judicial officers in order to reduce ‘complaining in our streets’ which can sometimes be so pernicious as to erode confidence in the body whose work is rooted in confidence. The article advocates also that there should be prior education for those that aspire for the Bench so that they ‘do not have to learn dexterity in old age’.