PROHIBITION OF RETIRED JUDICIAL OFFICERS FROM PRACTICE

        Retired Judicial Officers shall not appear as legal practitioners in any Court or tribunal in Nigeria. 

 Section 292(2) of the 1999 Constitution which provides as follows:”

“Any person who has held office as a judicial officer shall not, on ceasing to be a judicial officer for any reason whatsoever thereafter, appear or act as a legal practitioner before any Court of law or tribunal in Nigeria.”

                

WHO IS A JUDICIAL OFFICER

Section 318 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, which lists who the retired Judicial Officers are states that “judicial office” means:

1.   Office of CJN or Justices of the Supreme Court.

2.   President or Justices of the Court of Appeal.

3.   Chief Judge or Judges of Federal High Court.

4.   Chief Judge or Judges of the High Court of the FCT, Abuja.

5.   Chief Judge of a State and Judges of State High Courts.

6.   Grand Kadi or Kadis of the Sharia Court of Appeal of the FCT, Abuja.

7.   President or Judges of the Customary Court of Appeal of the FCT Abuja.

8.   Grand Kadi or Kadis of the Sharia Court of Appeal of a State.

9.   President or Judges of the Customary Court of Appeal of a State and

[note that HC are at par with Sharia COA and Cus COA. Note also that magistrates are NOT judicial officers]

They are also restricted from drafting pleadings and anything filed in court. They can draft other agreements. They can work as arbitrators, they

A restriction on magistrates and law officers is that they can’t accept anything which they have worked on 

A reference to a “judicial officer” is a reference to the holder of any such office.

Therefore, Magistrate Court or Area Court Judges are not included. In JUSTICE ATAKE V. CHIEF AFEJUKU (1994) 9 NWLR (PT. 368) at page 379, the Supreme Court held that a retired Judicial Officer cannot practice as a legal practitioner in Nigeria.

         Rule 6 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, as amended by Government Notice No. 476 of 1982 placed more restrictions on retired Judicial Officers and retired lawyers as follows:

a.    A lawyer shall not accept employment as an advocate in any matter of which he has previously acted in a judicial capacity.

b.    The lawyer having once held public office or been in public employ, shall not after retirement accept employment in connection with any matter he has advised on or dealt with while in such office or employ.

c.    A retired judicial officer shall only practise as a solicitor and not as an advocate.

d.    A judicial officer shall not sign any pleadings in Court.

e.    He may practise as a legal consultant.

f.     He shall not sign as or address/cause himself to be addressed as The Hon. Mr. Justice. This has been changed with the new rules R 6(5) which states that: a judicial officer who has retired may continue to use the word “Justice” as part of his name.

g.    He shall not write or publish any article in any newspaper, magazine, journal, periodical or discuss any topic in any news medium or conduct himself in public in such a manner as to cause the public to believe he is still a serving judicial officer or to address him as such and finally,

He is to be addressed as The Hon. Mr. Justice

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