In this opinion piece for THISDAY, Dr Eyimofe Atake, SAN, condemns what Nigeria’s Court of Appeal recently labeled “judicial rascality”—the practice of lower-court judges deliberately ignoring orders from higher courts. The article centers on a case in which the Court of Appeal stayed proceedings over the deregistration of five political parties, yet a Federal High Court judge delivered judgment anyway, reportedly after being made aware of the stay order. A separate appellate panel condemned the conduct as a grave breach of constitutional hierarchy and rendered the judgment unenforceable.

Atake argues that the problem has two culpable sides: judges who defy binding orders from superior courts, and the lawyers—especially senior advocates—who file the processes and arguments enabling them to do so. He stresses that judicial independence means freedom from improper influence, not freedom from the hierarchy of courts, and that no argument from counsel can excuse a judge from obeying a stay order. Calling verbal condemnation insufficient, he urges the National Judicial Council and the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee to enforce accountability consistently, treating seniority as an aggravating factor rather than a shield.

Read it here.