The Branch Chairman Gombe Nigerian Bar Association, Barrister Benjamin Sati, on Wednesday presented the Chief Judge Halima Mohammed with Outstanding Performance Award.
Sati made the presentation at Bar and Bench Forum held at the CJ’s courtroom.
PERISCOPE NIGERIA reports that the last time such a gathering comprising Lawyers, Judges, and other stakeholders held was in 2013.
Speaking on the importance of the recognition of the current Chief Judge by the forum Sati said “I learnt from my boss late Justice Abubakar Jauro, to celebrate people when they are life.”
He added, “This is to encourage my lord to do more. We present this award of outstanding performance to the honourable Chief Judge of Gombe Justice Halima Mohammed, by Nigerian Bar Association Gombe branch in recognition of her outstanding performance in the Judiciary and legal practice in its entirety in Gombe State.”
Speaking in an address at Nigerian Bar Association, Bar and Bench Forum, Sati, said the engagement would encourage the needed cooperation between Lawyers and Judges.
Sati said, “The Bar and Bench Forum serves as a platform for fostering collaboration, understanding, mutual respect between the Bar and the Bench. It is through such a dialogue that we can enhance the administration of justice and uphold the principle of the rule of law in our society.
“With the plethora and or a legion of issues facing the administration of justice, the very many qualms experienced by lawyers and judges alike, it makes a forum such as this become dialectically necessary to be held once a quarter in order to achieve the requisite synergy between the bar and the bench.
“Sadly, this forum is probably the 1st in the last ten years and the last organized and held was during the tenure of Mr. L.A Haruna which took place at Emerald Hotels G.RA. Gombe.
“Today, we have gathered here with a shared purpose to exchange ideas, share experiences and explore ways to improve our legal system. The challenges we face in the legal profession are complex and ever evolving, it is therefore only by working together that we can find effective solutions.
According to Sati, the Bar and Bench are currently in trying moment when the society is vexed with the system, adding that they are endangered specie following the public of judicial processes.
“Let us approach these discussions with open minds, spirits of collaboration, and a commitment to the principles of justice and fairness in playing our respective roles in the administration of justice in form of ‘a lawyer doesn’t have to win a case but have justice served and a judge doesn’t have to favour the undeserving for whatever consideration’.
“By doing so, we can collectively strive towards a legal system that serves the needs of our society and upholds the rights and liberties of all individuals.
“The society is angry with all of us because an average man sees us as complicit one way or the other in bringing about the injustice he or she suffers or sees meted on people who deserve to be given same. We are therefore an endangered specie so we should collectively right and correct the ills before the people revolt by attacking us individually in our homes or office and or our residences,” Sati added.
