Opinion: Can A Court of Appeal Justice Exercise the Powers of A High Court Judge?, By Chino Obiagwu
The point we are making, most respectfully, is that, once the statute confers a judicial function on a person, and in this case, section 396 of ACJA on a newly appointed justice of the Court of Appeal for a function that will be performed at the High Court, that judicial officer is for that purpose statutorily authorised to perform the function of the High Court judge. There is nothing in conflict with his position, role and function as the justice of the Court of Appeal.
The Supreme Court found in this case that section 396 of ACJA contravenes section 290 of the Constitution, because it tries to give the powers of a High Court judge to a justice of the Court of Appeal, which is not given by the Constitution. Being the grundnorm, any law contrary to the constitutional provision is null and void.
A provision of a statute that is in conflict with the provision of the Constitution is voided because the provision, if put into effect, will defeat the constitutional provision or limit its application or efficacy. A statutory provision cannot be considered as conflicting with the Constitution if it does not interfere or limit or obstruct the provisions of the Constitution.
Meanwhile, when Justice Idris heard the no case submission made by the defendants, he overruled it and held that they had a case to answer, whereupon they appealed to the Court of Appeal, where they raised the issue that Justice Idris could not continue to hear the case after his elevation. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and held that the provision of section 396 of ACJA in this respect was in order. It was this decision of the Court of Appeal that was appealed at the Supreme Court.
“… the powers or the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court as duly constituted under Section 253 of the Constitution. That is, that “the Federal High Court shall be duly constituted if it consists of at least one Judge of that Court”.
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