Sir: I just read on a platform where someone made reference to the fact that if Magistrates can sit on Saturdays to adjudicate Environmental Sanitation offences cases and generate income for the government, why can’t the court sit to adjudicate on other issues regarding the protection of the fundamental rights of citizens?

The police do not sleep or go on holidays but our courts do! Is this right? Even on a normal day, most courts will not take bail applications after 4 pm on a Friday; thus those arrested after 4 pm will have to wait in police detention till Monday to get justice if they are not granted bail by the police. Is this right? Does Justice have an off day?

What about on long holidays or long weekends like this last Sallah (Eid-el-Kabir) where our courts resumed on Wednesday (July 13). The person arrested on a Friday evening will have to spend all his Sallah in a police cell…except of course he or she has enough money or family that can provide enough bribe money for his release.

Can we have judges and magistrates that care enough for the citizens and for justice? The answer is yes and we do have them but how do we treat these Judges and Magistrates? One of the reasons our justice system is not working is because we haven’t paid enough attention nor spent enough money on ensuring that our justice system works.

Why can’t we have magistrates working on weekends? Maybe because we have overworked them, handling over 200 cases in five working days, writing in long hands and sitting down for five to eight hours straight is no joke. Perhaps if we employed more magistrates or we are ingenious enough to liberalise our bail conditions, we may just get some justice done for the benefit of citizens… I have a few ideas. #justiceaboveall

• Bayo Akinlade Esq