Young Lawyers Forum (YLF) of the Nigerian Bar Association has decried the alleged collection of applications for positions of Shariah Courts Judges from people ‘who have qualifications out side the legal profession’ by the Bauchi State Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
Speaking with Journalists yesterday, the state Chairman of the forum Barrister Abbas Muazu claimed that some applicants with certificates in Adult Education, Bsc Hausa, Bsc Arabic etc had applied for the positions in the ongoing recruitment process.
According to him, for someone to occupy the office of a judge, he should have vast knowledge of Islamic law and basic general law to enable him take fair decisions on matters of life and deaths.
” Even those who hold diploma in Shariah and Civil law are not qualified to be judges because this is two years course. How much do you know of the law that you can assume the position of a judge?
” In our candid opinion, it is not right for even people who are holders of diploma in Shariah and Civil law to apply for Shariah bench and some of them we could notice that they are holders of adult education, Bsc Hausa, Bsc Arabic. Arabic is a mere language and doesn’t necessarily mean someone who is vast in Islamic law “. He argued.
The legal practitioner revealed that the forum had recently made a written observation to the relevant authorities including, the Judicial Service Commission, State Chief Judge and Governor Mohammed Abubakar on the need to make amend in the process of recruiting new Shariah judges.
” We feel this is very sensitive issue that shouldn’t be taken lightly. For someone to assume the position of Shariah judge, the individual should be very vast in Islamic law “. He advised
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