Hon. Justice Rhodes-Vivour (Rtd) Backs Idea Of Increment On Retirement Age For Judges

A retired justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, has supported the call for increment in retirement age of judges.

Recall that at the book launch upon retirement of the jurist (Rhodes-Vivour) from the Supreme Court last year, Chief Afe Babalola, SAN had raised the issue of upward review of the retirement age of Justices of the Supreme Court.

Therefore, when asked his opinion during a recent interview with This Day Live Newspaper, Rhodes-Vivour supported the idea and opined that judges gain experience as they get older.

He said, “Yes, I support it. I think that Justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal should retire at 75, and High Court Judges should retire at 70. My reason for this is that, although we might look at it differently, I have always supported and advocated for increment in the retirement age of Judges. Judges mature with age.”

The retired justice also expressed concern that legislators earn 10 Times Higher than judges. He therefore called for increase in salary of judges because according to him, salary of judges is bad

“I agree with almost everything you just said. But, let me start with remuneration. We all know that members of the Legislature get over 10 times than what Judges get. We all know that. You see, we like to deceive ourselves!

“Section 291 of the Constitution says that Judges must retire, apart from their pension, also with all their allowances. That means when you retire, you should continue to enjoy all the allowances you enjoyed while you were in service. Anyway, in a nutshell, the salaries of Judges are bad and everybody knows that. There must be an urgent review upwards. If Legislators are getting 10 times what Judges get, they can urgently review it and let us get at least half of what they get, and things will be much better.” Rhodes-Vivour said

He also seized the opportunity to reflect on the state of welfare of the judges in the past which according to him were better. He said judges then did not depend on governor or any other person for their welfare because monies of judges where with the judiciary.

He said reverse is now the case as some judges are afraid of Governors because the Judges know they have to go to the Governor to ask for car, ask for house and even ask for money to travel abroad for medical attention.

He said, “It has not always been like this. In the 60s, my father was a Judge. Nobody gave them cars. They bought their own cars with their own money.

“A Judge then was earning £3,000 a year! The Chief Justice of Nigeria was getting £3,800. The Central Bank Governor was not getting up to £800 a year. But now, you can’t compare a Judge with the Governor of Central Bank.

“When the military came, all these things were chopped off, one by one. Let me give you an example. When you are appointed a Judge, lets say 1964; you are sworn in, the representative of the Public Works Department came to you and take you to your quarters. Your quarters were well furnished with everything.

“So, the Chief Judge of the State didn’t go to the Governor, cap in hand to buy his car. He didn’t go to the Governor to say, I need car, I need this, I need that. You didn’t have that in those days. Then this thing started about the independence of the Judiciary. Now you have to go cap in hand. That is where all these things started.

“Today, you see some Judges afraid to offend the Governor, and all that. But, that is not how it should be. A Judge should see and say things as they are. But, its easier said than done. Because the Judge knows he has to go to the Governor to ask for car, ask for house and even ask for money to travel abroad for medical attention.

“Judges in that old era, were not afraid. They were independent. All the money for the Judiciary, was with the Judiciary. They spent it their own way, but not now.”

As for what steps that must be taken for the Judiciary to be financially independent or its glory be restored, Rhodes-Vivour said at the beginning of every year, all the money for the Judiciary, should be given to them. The Judiciary should spend their money in their own way, just like how the Legislators spend theirs. And the Executive too. That is what separation of powers is all about. It’s not about one section of the government, lording it over the other.

Honourable Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour JSC (Rtd) rose from being a fearless Prosecutor in the Lagos State Ministry of Justice to the Director of Public Prosecutions, to a Judge of the High Court of Lagos State, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of Sierra Leone, and finally to the Supreme Court of Nigeria, from where he stepped down with pomp last year, having attained the mandatory retirement age of 70.