A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has called on the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, the Administrative Judge, and other judicial authorities to suspend the planned implementation of e-filing at the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court.
In a press statement issued on Monday, Adegboruwa commended the Federal High Court for its reform efforts through digitisation but cautioned against what he described as the “hasty implementation” of the e-filing regime, scheduled to begin on June 23, 2025.
According to a public notice signed by the court’s Chief Registrar, all case and document filings in the Lagos Division will, from the stated date, be conducted exclusively through the court’s e-filing portal.
However, Adegboruwa raised concerns about the lack of alternative manual filing options, the short notice given, and the timing—pointing out that the court’s annual vacation was set to begin on July 28 and end on September 16, 2025.
He urged that the e-filing initiative be postponed until the start of the new legal year in September 2025, preferably coinciding with the court’s planned relocation to its new complex.
“That should be the best time to implement a laudable idea such as this,” he said, citing infrastructural challenges at the court’s current premises.
Adegboruwa also criticised the limited scope of the digitisation, noting that it currently applied only to the filing of cases.
“There should be no half-measures. The process should be holistic—encompassing court proceedings, rulings, judgments, cause lists, and the service of court processes,” he said.
He further expressed concern over Nigeria’s unreliable power supply, poor internet connectivity, cybersecurity risks, and the digital divide that could marginalise lawyers and litigants in rural or underserved areas.
“Legal practice should not be the vocation of the elites alone,” he warned, stressing that improper implementation could hinder access to justice for ordinary Nigerians.
Adegboruwa also questioned the compatibility of the proposed e-filing system with the predominantly manual processes still in use at the Court of Appeal, particularly concerning the compilation and transmission of records of appeal.
As an interim solution, he called for the retention of manual filing alongside digital options, comparing the situation to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s approach in allowing both old and new naira notes to circulate concurrently.
“Innovative ideas should not deprive the people of the justice they richly deserve and desperately long for,” he added.
