Hon. Justice Sanusi Kado of the National Industrial Court has posited that there is an urgent need for court librarians to be Information Communication Technology compliant to remain relevant in today’s world of technology and to better enhance effective justice delivery.
Justice Kado stated this during the virtual conference organized by the Nigerian Association of Law librarian on the theme, The Judge and the Law Librarian: Synergy for the smooth administration of Justice.
Justice Kado recommended that both the judges and the librarians must endeavor to always update their knowledge and competencies to serve as an impetus to the needed synergy for smooth administration of justice.
Speaking further, he said a judge being assisted by a Law librarian in getting needed materials will help in rendering quality judgments to uphold the rights of justice seekers before the court.
While imploring the law librarians to be up to their mandate and responsibilities, Justice Kado maintained that for the judiciary to be placed in a position of maintaining rule of law without fear or favour, there must be in existence a proper, effective, and efficient administration of justice.
In addition, Justice Kado said the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in a total lockdown and shutting off almost all the activities of the three arms of government has forced Judges to see ICT as the better alternative for their needed materials, charged the law librarians to equip themselves with relevant ICT skills for them to meet up with current realities.
In his address, the association president, Ibrahim Gusau, mni expressed the deepest appreciation to the guest speaker, My Lord, Hon. Justice Sanusi Kado for the erudite presentation despite many official and personal engagements, and stated that with the lecture they received, the association will surely put it into use to reposition themselves for better synergy with the judges and the Court.
Also, in his comment, a member of the Bar, Ibrahim Idaiye Esq. maintained that the quality of the work of judges would to a large extent be a reflection of the quality of the law librarians, that librarian as a profession has a pivotal role to play in the smooth administration of justice.
The event was witnessed by the library staff of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal; Federal and State high courts, Industrial Court; members of the Bar, and the general public.
