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Meet the ‘worst mass paedophile who ever lived’ and the wife who allegedly helped hide his crimes – despite her own niece being his first victim

Smiling broadly from behind a tree in the French port city of Saint-Nazaire, the newlyweds could not have looked more conventional.

It was June 29th, 1974 – a sunny Saturday on the Atlantic coast – and the picture shows Joël Le Scouarnec, a 23-year-old trainee surgeon, and his wife, a nursing assistant aged 20 whose maiden name was Marie-France Lhermitte.

She was the daughter of a local docker in the Chantieres de l’Alantique – one of largest shipyards in the world – while his father was a carpenter from Paris.

Read Also: Historic French Trial: Monster of Avignon who got more than 50 men to rape wife over 10-year-period jailed 20 years

Ahead of the couple was a high-earning career in medicine, a 15th Century manor house they called home, and three happy and healthy sons.

Except – as a court heard this week – behind the façade of wedded bliss and professional success, there were already deep, dark secrets.

Both had allegedly experienced the vilest forms of domestic abuse from infancy, and decades of even more horrific crimes were to follow.

Le Scouarnec, now 74, is now described as ‘the worst mass paedophile who ever lived’ and an ‘atomic bomb’ of child abuse.

On Wednesday, he was sentenced to two decades in prison – the maximum time possible under France’s archaic sexual offences laws – for raping scores of youngsters over three decades, after prosecutors referred to him as ‘a devil’. 

He admitted at least 299 horrifying crimes against victims who were mostly under the age of 15, with the youngest just four.

Judge Aude Burési, sitting at the Morbihan Criminal Court, in Vannes, Brittany, sentenced Le Scouarnec after he was found guilty of 111 rapes and 189 sexual assaults.

The offences took place between 1989 and 2014, while other alleged crimes were not prosecuted because they happened too long ago.

During a three-month trial, the court heard how Le Scourarnec mainly abused patients while they were still under anaesthetic, or slowly waking up following operations.

It was Thomas Delaby, a barrister representing one of his victims, who told Le Scourarnec: ‘You are the worst mass paedophile who ever lived’ and ‘an atomic bomb of paedophilia. Your victims will never forgive you.’

Such words certainly added to the anger and emotion of Le Scourarnec’s trial, but so too did those of his wife, who only finally divorced him in 2023.

Marie-France Le Scouarnec caused outrage by insulting victims during cross-examination, and also allegedly lying repeatedly.

The most serious accusation against her was that she knew full well she was married to an active serial paedophile, but turned a blind eye to his depravity.

There are now growing calls for Madame Le Scouarnec herself to be prosecuted for aiding and abetting a long-term criminal.

To try and understand why, we need to go back to that June day more than half-a-century ago, when the Le Scouarnec’s seemed to have the world at their feet.

Le Scouarnec had ‘pledged to become a surgeon from the age of ten’, he said, and Marie-France was equally committed to caring for the sick.

Both were determined to rise up the social scale, serving the public in a manner that would earn them huge respect, both within France’s national health service, and from their large extended families.

Le Scouarnec was a rising star in his chosen profession who had met his future wife at the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital, in the centre of Paris.

Following their wedding, they moved out to the countryside around Nantes, on the west coast of France, to start married life together.

Le Scouarnec specialised in digestive surgery, and he was soon much in demand in local hospitals and medical centres.

There were tensions in the couple’s relationship from day one, however – most caused by abuse in earlier life, defence lawyers told the court.

Marie-France Le Scouarnec claimed she was raped by two uncles, while Le Scouarnec said his childhood home in the Paris suburbs was a hotbed of illegal acts, including incestuous ones.

As a married couple, the Scouarnecs made a manor house in Loches, south of Tours, their principal family home.

Madame Le Scouarnec focused on bringing up their boys – Fabien, Florian and Renan – while also organising a busy social life, which included regular dinner parties.

Le Scouarnec admitted he was already consumed by ‘dark impulses’ at the time, and a young relative on his wife’s side of the family was ‘the trigger’.

He told investigators in recorded interviews: ‘My attraction to young children began with my niece, it must have been in 1985 or 1986.

‘She was very affectionate, she would come and sit on my lap. My relationship with my wife was deteriorating. I transferred my sexuality onto this little girl. She was the trigger.’

The niece – referred to in court by the pseudonym of Nathalie – was soon being regularly abused by Le Scouarnec at the Loches house, the court heard.

The child was the daughter of Sylvie, Madame Le Scouarnec’s own sister in Saint-Nazaire, and it appeared that both women knew exactly what was going on.

Sylvie later tried to justify her silence by a ‘psychological blockage’ linked to her past, which included being sexual assaulted as a child.

Back at Le Scouarnec’s immediate family home, affairs took place in the marital bed, with Madame Le Scouarnec ‘making advances’ towards her husband’s own brother, Patrick Le Scouarnec, as early as 1983.

Marie-France Le Scouarnec also discovered a cupboard filled with child pornography magazines and child-sized dolls which were being used for sexual gratification, but she did not report them to the authorities.

Joël Le Scouarnec was relegated to a small bedroom at the local hospital where he was working.

‘I didn’t see the point of divorce,’ he said. ‘Given what I was, I wasn’t going to start my life over again.’

Patrick Le Scouarnec, the now 70-year-old brother of the surgeon, agreed that Madame Le Scouarnec was a consummate liar.

‘There is another person who could have ensured that my brother was arrested – it is his wife, Marie-France,’ he said.

He said that Marie-France Le Scouarnec ‘loved her husband’s salary,’ but preferred to sleep with other men, including family members. In turn, Marie-France Le Scouarnec constantly claimed ‘I knew nothing,’ despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

‘I wondered how I could have not noticed anything,’ Ms Le Scouarnec told the court. ‘It’s a terrible betrayal that he committed against me and my children.’

But Madame Le Scouarnec’s sister confirmed this was not true, saying Marie-France Le Scouarnec had at one point shouted: ‘But all men love little girls.’

Madame Le Scouarnec even called Nathalie – the niece abused by Le Scouarnec – a ‘devious little girl,’ who ‘hung around Joël’s neck so as to blackmail him. ‘

By the year 2000, Joël Le Scouarnec’s sister, Annie, had also learned from one of her 10-year-old daughters that she, too, had been sexually assaulted by her brother.

‘I was taught to keep quiet at a very young age,’ Annie said in court, while saying Marie-France Le Scouarnec certainly knew ‘all about’ her husband’s paedophilia.

A letter handwritten by Madame Le Scouarnec in 2010 that was also entered as evidence read: ‘I ask you to please protect my youngest son, the only one who does not know his father’s past.’

This was seven years before detectives arrested Le Scouarnec in connection with offences against minors.

In December 2020, he was sentenced to 15 years for the sexual abuse of four girls: a six-year-old neighbour, a four-year-old patient, and two of his own nieces, who were also four when the abuse started.

In comments that have been published and broadcast across France, victims called for Marie-France Le Scouarnec to be prosecuted.

Marie-Caroline Arrighi, a spokesman for four victims, said outside court: ‘She knew. Marie-France Le Scouarnec knew and protected her husband.’

Calling the couple ‘evil,’ Ms Arrighi added: ‘Reporting sexual crimes and offences against minors is a legal obligation.’

The Lorient public prosecutor’s office has opened two new investigations into Le Scouarnec’s professional career, which ended in 2017.

They include ‘possibly unidentified and newly reported victims’ of sexual abuse and rape.

But when Le Scouarnec next appears in the dock, he is likely to repeat his long-term claim that the woman with whom he shared his life with over decades was oblivious to his crimes.

It is a tactic that has only increased suspicion around Marie-France Le Scouarnec, especially as she is now the only family member who visits him in prison.

Her divorce settlement in 2023 included her getting the couple’s house, along with a generous pension worth the equivalent of around £2200-a- month, and power of attorney over their bank accounts.

When a prosecutor asked in court if this was ‘the price of silence’ for so many decades when he could have been caught, Le Scouarnec replied: ‘She was my wife.

Culled from Daily Mail

The tendency to regard those who offer critical feedback on the judiciary in Nigeria as adversaries or enemies is self-defeating — Odinkalu

Outspoken law teacher and Chair, Board of Directors, International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, on Thursday, remarked that anyone who cared enough to criticise the judiciary is concerned about its state of affairs.

Asserting that what portends real danger is when citizens stop taking and begin to ignore the judiciary, Odinkalu, who was the keynote speaker at the 4th C.O. Anah SAN, memorial colloquium said, “The tendency to regard as adversaries or enemies (I have got tired of counting death threats over this matter) those who offer critical feedback on the judiciary in Nigeria is self-defeating.

Odinkalu, Adaeze Anah and John-Austin Unachukwu

“Citizens owe the judges and the courts a duty of candour; for there is something more damaging and more adversarial than being critical of the judiciary in Nigeria; it is ignoring it entirely. May that day never come.”

According to the one-time of Chair of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), “In Nigeria, the integrity of the judicial system, which underpins the guarantee of fair trial, is no longer a given.

“As evidence of this, of the six Chief Justices of Nigeria since 2011 preceding the current incumbent, only two – Aloma Mukhtar and Mahmud Mohammed – served out their tenures without controversy.

“Of the last three CJNs preceding the current one, two were effectively fired in circumstances that tarnished the judiciary institutionally, and the penultimate scandalized the judiciary with a compulsive disposition towards hawking judicial appointments in a bazaar of undisguised insider-dealing that usually was accompanied by a whiff of political, filial, or genital relations.”

Read the full text of Odinkalu’s paper below.

Anah-Memorial-Colloquium-May-20251

It’s Trump – not Barron – who failed to get into Harvard: Trump biographer suggests the president turned his ire on Harvard because he didn’t get into the school

Trump biographer Michael Wolff has suggested that the president has turned his ire on Harvard because he didn’t get into the school.

The Daily Beast reported earlier this week that there’s a running joke in the White House that Donald Trump has set his sights on the Ivy League institution because his son Barron couldn’t get in. But Wolff has suggested that it’s Trump himself who failed to attend.

Barron’s mom, First Lady Melania Trump, said her son never applied to Harvard and was not the reason for the president’s apparent vendetta against the university. Barron attends New York University.

Wolff presented his theory about the president Thursday onThe Daily Beast Podcast to host Joanna Coles.

Click here to continue reading.

[Read the Full Text] By far, the most worrisome exertion of influence on judges comes from the executive branch of government— Hon. Justice (Prof.) Alaba Omolaye-Ajileye

Full text of Hon. Justice (Prof.) Alaba Omolaye-Ajileye’s (rtd) paper delivered at 4th C.O. Anah SAN, memorial colloquium

FROM PRESSURE TO PRINCIPLES: THE JUDGE AS THE BACKBONE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ENFORCEMENT.

BY

HON. JUSTICE (PROF.) ALABA OMOLAYE-AJILEYE (rtd) PhD, FCIMC

FORMER HIGH COURT JUDGE

VISITING PROFESSOR

NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY

Protocol

Appreciation

Preamble

I have been asked to speak on the topic: From Pressure to Principles: The Judge as the Backbone of Human Rights Enforcement.  This topic underscores the role of judges in upholding human rights in cases where they (the judges) are expected to provide remedies for victims of abuse of fundamental human rights. It underscores the point that for judges to effectively enforce human rights, they must maintain independence and impartiality. They must demonstrate character and courage to make decisions based solely on the law without external pressure or biases.

 The Notion of Fundamental Human Rights

 The notion of fundamental human rights derives from the acknowledgment of the fact that there are rights are inherent, universal and inalienable in man that every individual possesses simply by virtue of being human. Nobody, power, or authority confers such rights. They are not donated by the government and cannot be capriciously taken away by it. They include, amongst others, rights to life, liberty, fair hearing, freedom from torture, or degrading treatment; right to equality and non-discrimination; freedom of expression, thought and conscience etc. These rights are essential for human dignity, freedom, and well-being. Therefore, whenever a case of the enforcement of human rights comes before a judge for adjudication, something should speak to the conscience of the judge that it is not a matter that should be treated with levity. Judges must provide guidance on human rights issues by making pronouncements that will help to prevent abuse.

I am pleased to be speaking about the pressures judges face in their work.  I am also pleased that as a retired judge, I can now share my thoughts freely without concern for repercussions from the National Judicial Council. Drawing from my nearly two decades of experience on the High Court bench, I can now provide practical insights, rather than hypothetical or academic scenarios. That is what I have come to do here. I have no lecture to deliver. I have no theory to propound. I have no pontification to make, but I have experiences to share.

The Mandate of Judges to Administer Justice

Let the point be made, as a threshold issue, that judges, in upholding their sacred duty to administer justice, are mandated to adhere to ethical principles outlined in the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers. Again, upon taking office, judges swear an oath to impartially dispense justice to all individuals, unaffected by fear, favoritism, affection, or ill-will. This commitment underscores the importance of integrity, impartiality, and fairness in the process of adjudication.

Of all the attributes a judge is required to possess, to perform his or her role as backbone of human right enforcement, I consider two as towering and outstanding. They are character and courage. Character and courage are indeed the most essential attributes for judges. A judge with strong character and courage is well-equipped to uphold all the requirements of ethics and codes of conduct. Judges with strong character possess high moral integrity, honesty, and ethics. Character-driven judges will remain unbiased and fair in their decision-making. Such judges also inspire confidence in the justice system. In the same way, courageous judges make decisions independently, without external influence. Judges with courage can make difficult decisions, even in the face of the most scurrilous criticism or pressure.

The Pressure Judges Face

I had the fortune (I will never call it a misfortune) of handling many sensitive and high-profile cases while on the bench. Some of those cases put me in direct confrontation with the government, such that I was tagged as an anti-government judge! Such cases also put my career and life on the line. Sometimes, I had to go into the trenches to ensure that the independence of the judiciary was maintained and justice dispensed. Reflecting on my active years on the bench, I thank God that I survived all the vicissitudes. To the glory of God, my career came to a glorious end, and I am alive today to share my chequered experiences with you.

It’s all about the justice and independence of the Judiciary, which, I believe must be preserved in all circumstances! The concept of Independence of the Judiciary is not an esoteric term. In the context of our discourse, it is seen in light of the simple definition provided by the International Commission of Jurists (“ICJ”): “That every judge is free to decide matters before him in accordance with his assessment of the facts and his understanding of the law without any improper influence, inducement or pressures, direct or indirect, from any quarter or for whatever reason.”[1] The phrase: ‘from any quarter or for whatever reason’ is underscored. It includes the judge himself who may not be free from his or her own timidity and timorousness. In this vein, judicial independence is not just a jurisprudential notion. It is an expression of commitment to justice, freedom, and rule of law. An independent and impartial Judiciary is an institution of the greatest value in a democratic society required by law. It is an essential pillar of liberty and the rule of law.

 In some climes, the battle for independence of the Judiciary had been won, though, not on a platter of gold, but had been the work of ages to establish, and the sacrifices of courageous men to attain. In Nigeria, it is still work in progress. That is why Nigeria needs courageous judges who will not compromise justice on the altar of inducement, threats or intimidation; Judges who will make decisions solely based on the law without fear and favour; judges who will bravely face threats or intimidation and prioritize the integrity of the justice system.   

Unarguably, judges face a multitude of pressures that often influence their decisions. These pressures come in different forms, dimensions, characters, and colours. They also come from friends and relations who may be acting as emissaries or conduit. These people are usually carefully chosen for such nefarious and ignoble assignments on account of their relationship with the judge or the presumed influence (undue influence) they think they can bring to bear on him or her.

Pressure from Executive Arm of Government

By far, the most worrisome exertion of influence on judges comes from the executive branch of government. There are people in government circles whose perspective of the judiciary appears to be distorted, viewing it (the judiciary) as a subordinate department or agency rather than an independent branch of government. This mindset leads them to wrongly perceive judges as mere instruments or tools expected to implement their directives without question. I experienced some of these pressures during my career as a judge. Due to constraints of time, I will highlight two notable cases to demonstrate my points. They are, Eri & Anor v Kogi State House of Assembly & 3 Ors (2009) All FWLR (Pt. 469) 343 and Ajanah & Anor v  Kogi State House of Assembly & 4 Ors (Reported in my book: In the Interest of Justice: Excellence in Judgment Writing. Pp. 97 – 126).

The two cases had to do with the removal of Chief Judges. The provision of Section 292 of the Constitution prescribes the ways judicial officers can be removed. To me, the provision is fluid, yet it remains unaltered till date. Both the Executive and Legislature often take advantage of the fluidity of the provision of the Constitution to abuse the same with recklessness. Twice in Kogi State, attempts were made to remove Chief Judges. I had the honour of handling the two cases.

Constitutional Provisions for Removal of Judges

The truth remains that the Constitution simply requires the Governor to remove a Chief Judge upon an address supported by a two-thirds majority of a House of Assembly to get the Chief Judge of a state removed. The relevant provision states:

Section 292

  1. A judicial officer shall not be removed from his office or appointment before his age of retirement except in the following circumstances –xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(ii) Chief Judge of a State, Grand Kadi of a Sharia Court of Appeal or President of a Customary Court of Appeal of a State, by the Governor acting on an address supported by a two-thirds majority of the House of Assembly of the State…Praying that he be so removed for his inability to discharge the functions of his office or appointment (whether arising from infirmity of mind or of the body) or for misconduct or contravention of the Code of Conduct.[2]

It looks like a simple process to remove a Chief Judge, and politicians wrongly consider removal of Chief Judges as a political issue. Accordingly, it is easy to allege misconduct against a Chief Judge on flimsy grounds because misconduct is not defined under the Constitution for purposes of Section 292. Misconduct, therefore, becomes an eccentric word, often abused, and the abuse is such that a little disagreement between a Governor and Chief Judge is jointly treated by both the Executive and Legislature as ‘’misconduct” under Section 292 of the Constitution. For instance, the allegation against the late Justice Nasiru Ajanah (CJ, of blessed memory) was that he failed to release the payroll of judicial staff to the Secretary to the Government of Kogi State for a pay parade of civil servants in the state as directed by the Governor. The response of the late CJ Ajanah to the SGS’s letter was a polite decline to the request and a gentle reminder that the Judiciary was not a parastatal or department of the Government of Kogi State but one of the three arms of the government. What followed was the passage of a Resolution by the Kogi State House of Assembly for the removal of the CJ.

In my judgment, I stated that I found a dubious and conspiratorial siege of both the Executive and Legislature of Kogi state against the Head of the Judiciary of the state. I added:

There also appears to be an unholy alliance in which the Legislature subjugated itself to the overbearing powers of the Executive to subdue the Judiciary under the guise of carrying out a phony investigation.

The Pressure Came – Eri’s Case

No 1 – Subtle Threat & Intimidation

  • Emissaries (Distinguished and highly respected individuals).
  • They reminded me of the fact that Justice Eri was at the twilight of his career while I was at the threshold of mine. [Justice Eri had only three months to retire from judicial service when he was purportedly removed by Kogi State House of Assembly. I was barely two years on the bench.
  • Why can’t you allow another judge to hear the case? Are you the only judge who can do it?

Such were messages they came to deliver. I was not moved. I was firm in my stand that if it was accepted that the case must be heard by a judge, why not me? Their expectation was that I would just come to court one day, give a flimsy excuse and withdraw from the case. This didn’t happen.  So, their subtle threat and intimidation did not work.

NO 2 – Thou shall not deliver the judgment

I completed the hearing of CJ Eri’s case in record time [within 40 days]. The case was filed on 7th April and judgment delivered on 18th May 2008. Justice Eri had less than 45 days to retire. There were many interlocutory applications designed to delay the hearing case. What I did was to consolidate the hearing of all the interlocutory applications and delivered the rulings along with the judgment.    

Pressure –

  • Order to adjourn the case sine die.
  • I went into trenches. I knew my life was in danger.
  • Justice Eri obtained justice as his dismissal was nullified.

Compare Justice Eri’s case with the case of Justice Walter Onnoghen (CJN’s as he then was).

  • The Code of Conduct Tribunal granted an ex-parte  order for Justice Onnoghen to step aside as the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the National Judicial Council, and for the President to swear in the next most senior Justice of the Supreme Court as acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, thereby removing the appellant from office.
  • Justice Onnoghen before and during the trial, raised objections challenging the jurisdiction of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), to hear and determine the matter same having not been brought by due process of the law, as the appellant being a judicial officer, ought to have been reported to the National Judicial Council first whose findings and recommendations would determine the action(s) to be taken against him.
  • The Tribunal ruled against him.
  •  The former CJN filed three appeals namely: (1) CA/A/375c/2019 (2) CA/A/376c/2019 and (3) CA/A/377c/2019. The appeals were filed in 2019 but were not determined by the Court of Appeal until November 4, 2024, after President Buhari left power.
  • Whatever amount of money he might have received as damages or whatever the question remains: Did the former CJN obtain justice?

CJ Ajanah’s case

This was one case that would go into my record as one in which I experienced the crudest form of pressure.

  • Intimidation to life.
  • Withdraw of Police security from my court.
  • Thuggery.

Principles

Through determination and perseverance, I overcame the hurdles that stood in the way of justice in the two cases and delivered conclusive judgments, advancing crucial legal principles and providing clarity on key issues.

Principle No 1 – Only the National Judicial Council is constitutionally empowered to recommend the removal of a Chief Judge or Judicial Officer. The substratum of justice would be destroyed if a legislative house is allowed to discipline judicial officers.

When I heard Justice Eri’s case in 2008, there was no clear precedent for me to follow to establish that the power of the Governor to remove the Chief Judge of a state went beyond the application of Section 292 of the Constitution. I was constrained to strain the letters of the constitution and proactively take the matter beyond the scope of Section 292. I treated the act of removal of a Chief Judge as a disciplinary action and brought it under Item 21 (d) of the Third Schedule to the Constitution. This is what I said:

It is a cardinal principle of our Federation under the 1999 Constitution that there is a separation of powers, subject to checks and balances, between the Legislature, the Executive, and the Judiciary. (See sections 4, 5, and 6 of the Constitution).  Under Item 21 of the Third Schedule to the Constitution, the National Judicial Council (NJC) is empowered to exercise disciplinary control over all judicial officers in Nigeria. Where a Chief Judge of a State is to be removed, for instance, for whatever reason, it is the National Judicial Council that is empowered to make recommendations to the Governor of that State under Item 21 (d) of the Third Schedule. I suppose that before the National Judicial Council makes any recommendation, it is expected that the NJC will investigate the complaints against such a Chief Judge or any
Judicial Officer for that matter. It, therefore, follows that the power of investigation inseparably goes with the disciplinary power of the National Judicial Council under Item 21 of the Third Schedule of the Constitution.”

I, then, remarked further:

…This is how it should be because there is something so monstrous and outrageous in allowing anything to the contrary. Indeed, to allow a Legislative House, as the 1st defendant, to investigate and/or discipline judicial officers would destroy the very substratum of justice and introduce a system of servitude, utterly inconsistent with the constitutional independence of judges… Let it be said here, therefore, loud and clear, that no Legislative House, the 1st defendant inclusive, has any oversight function over any judicial officer in Nigeria. This is a basic truth that must be accepted by the defendants. Applying this principle to this case, means, upon the receipt of the petition written against the  1st claimant by a body called Movement for Transparent Government, the 1st and 2nd defendants ought to have directed the petition to the appropriate authority which, in this case, is the National Judicial Council, the body charged by the Constitution to investigate complaints against judicial officers. They (the 1 and 2 defendants) ought not to have wasted their precious legislative time debating the petition, in the first place, let alone setting up an ad-hoc committee that is incompetent to handle such matters. It is hoped that this hint will be taken against future occurrences.

Principle No 2 – A House of Assembly cannot usurp the adjudicatory power of the Judiciary.

In CJ Ajanah’s case, I held:

I find that the committee [of the House] has not been constituted for a permissible purpose under the Constitution but to witch-hunt the claimants. Resolution of an “impasse” between two arms of Government falls outside the purview of the powers of a legislative house. Section 128 of the Constitution is not designed to enable the Legislature to usurp the general adjudicative powers of the Judiciary under Section 6 of the same Constitution. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd defendants, in this case, ought not to have wasted their precious legislative time debating the petition of the Secretary to Kogi State Government, Exhibit KGS 1, in the first place, let alone set up an Ad hoc committee that is grossly incompetent to handle such matters.

Omolaye-Ajileye, J., in Hon. Justice Nasir Ajanah & Anor. V. Kogi State House of Assembly& 4 Ors (Suit No HC/uCV/2018)

Principle No 3 – Disobedience to court orders is a threat to democracy

When issues involving disobedience of court orders arise, it must be appreciated that they are matters that transcend the claims and interests of the parties before the court. They even go beyond being just an affront to the judge who made the order. Something more fundamental is involved. We are here talking about a potent destabilizing factor of the social equilibrium. They are issues that frontally attack and challenge the whole concept of judicial powers vested in the courts under the Constitution and a calculated act of subversion of peace, order, and good government. Indeed, disobedience of court orders is a big threat to democracy.

Omolaye-Ajileye, J., in Hon. Justice Umaru Eri & Anor. v. Kogi State House of Assembly & 3 Ors. (Suit No HC/KK/002CV/2008).

Principle No 4 – Government ought to govern by example and respect the rule of law

We live in a country where the government professes to the whole world that it is operating under the rule of law. One important way to encourage respect for the rule of law is for those in authority to demonstrate, by their conduct, that the law they make, execute, or administer, as the case may be, also binds them. They must validate the fact that they do not constitute an exceptional group that towers above the law. Indeed, it is the challenge of the government to govern by example.

Omolaye-Ajileye, J., in Hon. Justice Umaru Eri & Anor. v. Kogi State House of Assembly & 3 Ors. (Suit No HC/KK/002CV/2008).

Conclusion – The Type of Judges we need

When all is said and done, the pertinent question here is, what type of judges do we need to act as backbone of human rights enforcement? I cannot find a better answer to this question than the words expressed by Donald R. Cressey when he said:

We need judges learned in the law, not merely the law in books but something far more difficult to acquire, the law as applied in action in the courtroom, judges deeply versed in the mysteries of human nature and adept in the discovery of the truth in the discordant testimony of fallible human beings; judges beholden to no man, independent and honest and equally important, believed by all men to be independent and honest; judges, above all, fired with consuming zeal to mete out justice according to law to every man, woman, and child that may come before them to preserve individual freedom against any aggression of government; judges with humility born of wisdom, patient and untiring in the search for truth and keenly conscious of the evils arising in a workaday world from any unnecessary delay.”[3]

I should finally add that the type of judges we need are those who will see every case before them, including cases of enforcement of human rights, as a journey in which destination is justice; judges who, in the course of the journey, will see themselves as pilgrims insulated from all forms of pressures around him either in the form of inducement or intimidation etc. Judges who would declare as John Bunyan declared:

He who would valiant be
‘Gainst all disaster,
Let them in constancy
Follow the master.
There’s no discouragement
Shall make them once relent
Their first avowed intent
To be a pilgrim.

I rest my case! Thank you for listening

[1] 3 25026 CIJL Bulletin, April-October 1990. Retrieved from: https://www.jsc.org.zw/upload/Speech/Chief%20Justice’s%20Paper%20for%20SACJF%20Conference%20-%20Mozambique%20-%2024%20October%202022.pdf  on 21/5/2025. 

[2] : https://jurist.ng/constitution/sec-292

[3] 31 DR Cressey “Crime and Criminal Justice” Quadrangle Books Chicago 1971 p.263. Quoted from Luke Malaba (2021) Judges Induction Compendium, 1st ed. Retrieved from: https://www.jsc.org.zw/upload/Publications/JUDGES’%20INDUCTION%20COMPENDIUM%20FIRST%20EDITION%202021.pdf

Osun seamstress allegedly burns 17-year-old customer with hot iron over dress dispute

A seamstress in Osun State known as Iya Abdullahi allegedly attacked a teenage girl with a hot pressing iron for reportedly complaining about a dress the victim had given her to sew.

The assault occurred on Wednesday at the seamstress’s shop in the Obelawo Area of Osogbo after the teenager (name withheld) reportedly visited the shop to return her wrongly made clothing.

Narrating her ordeal, the teenager, who had been rushed to a private hospital for treatment, displayed the injuries she sustained from the hot iron on her body and sought justice.

She said she had taken a piece of cloth to Iya Abdullahi to sew for her, and after discovering that the dress was too short for her to wear, she returned it.

“Instead of adjusting the dress, Iya Abdullahi started raining curses on me. I rebuked her, and she started flogging me with a stick. I struggled to dispossess her of the cane. Immediately, she went into her shop and took a hot pressing iron and used it to press my body in different places,” she lamented in pain,” the victim narrated.

Meanwhile, a non-governmental organization in the state, Value Female Network, has demanded justice for the 17-year-old survivor, wondering how “something that began as a minor dispute over a clothing issue escalated into a violent attack on the minor.”

In a detailed report of the incident made available to The Guardian in Osogbo and also forwarded to the Ministry of Justice for action, the Executive Director of VFN, Dr. Costly Aderibigbe-Saba, said, “The case further involves allegations of abuse of authority by the tailor’s husband, a police officer, who is reportedly trying to suppress the matter.

“The 17-year-old girl had given her cloth to a local tailor for sewing. Upon receiving the finished outfit, she found it too small and returned it for necessary adjustments. A minor disagreement followed this request. The tailor, rather than addressing the complaint, began laying curses on the girl.

“In an attempt to defend herself verbally, the girl responded, which further enraged the tailor. The tailor then physically assaulted the girl and went as far as using a hot pressing iron to burn multiple areas on her body, causing severe injuries.

Following the brutal attack, the girl was rushed to Olorungbebe Medical Center, Zone B, Palace Road Community, Ido-Osun, Osun State, for urgent medical attention. The tailor’s husband, a police officer, has reportedly intervened to suppress the case and prevent it from being reported or investigated properly. There are strong allegations that he is using his position and influence in the police force to shield his wife from justice.”

Aderibigbe-Saba explained the background of the alleged assault, saying that Aduke Obelawo, a prominent gender rights advocate, reported the matter to the organisation.

It was gathered that the matter has been reported to the command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.

When contacted by the publication, Iya Abdullahi explained that the teenager had abused her first, stepped on the clothes she was selling, and that both of them got injured while dragging the hot pressing iron.

“She (survivor) brought a pair of trousers to me through a boy. She told the boy to tell me that the cloth belonged to the boy’s mother, a claim that was later found to be lies. Having realized that her lies were busted, she started abusing me,” she said.

“She came to my shop to scatter my clothes and even stepped on them. We started fighting, and she took the pressing iron, and I started struggling it with her; that was how she got the bruises, and I also got injured on my finger. Her mother brought Civil Defence officers, and my husband, who is a police officer, also intervened.”

Meanwhile, the NGO on Thursday revealed that the tailor had brought policemen from Dugbe Police Station in Osogbo to arrest and detain the victim’s mother.

She was said to be acting on the influence of her husband, who is a police officer in the state.

Woman earns life imprisonment for selling daughter to a ‘healer’ who wanted her light eyes and skin for rituals

A South African mother has been jailed for life, along with her two accomplices, after she sold her daughter to a traditional “healer” so her light eyes and skin could be cut out and used for medicine.

Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith sold six-year-old Joshlin for 20,000 rand (£800) in February because the healer wanted her fair complexion and turquoise eyes.

The case shocked South Africa even further when it emerged that she would have accepted £200 for the child.

Smith, 35, has now been sentenced for kidnapping and trafficking along with her boyfriend, Jacquen Appollis and a friend, Steveno van Rhyn.

Judge Nathan Erasmus told them: “There is nothing that I can find that is redeeming and deserving of a lesser sentence than the harshest I can impose”

Joshlin’s grandmother, Amanda Smith-Daniels, is now begging her daughter to reveal where Joshlin is.

She told Newzroom Afrika: “I don’t feel that any sentence they get will bring my grandchild back.”

Speaking directly to Smith, she added: “How do you sleep [and] live with yourself?”

Her teacher also said that Joshlin’s school friends still ask where she is.

A court heard that Joshlin vanished from outside her home in Saldanha Bay, near Cape Town, in February 2024.

She had been living with family friends after her mother – with a drug dependency since her teens – became abusive while high.

They wanted to adopt her to give her a better life, but the family blocked these bids.

Neighbour Lorential Lombaard said Smith confessed to them that she had sold Joshlin to a sangoma – traditional healer known as soul doctors.

She later saw Smith packing a bag of clothes for Joshlin before getting into a car with the woman she believes to be the healer.

The young girl’s teacher also claimed that Smith told her that Joshlin was already “on a ship inside a container, and they were on the way to western Africa.”

The sentencing follows an eight-week trial that captivated South Africa, with witnesses and prosecutors making a number of shocking allegations.

Judge Nathan Erasmus said he “drew no distinction” between the trio in handing down the sentences.

“On the human trafficking charge, you are sentenced to life imprisonment. On the kidnapping charge, you are sentenced to 10 years imprisonment,” he said to loud applause in the courtroom.

Smith, 35, and her accomplices showed no emotion as their sentences were read out in the community centre in Saldanha where the trial was held to allow residents to attend proceedings.

Police said the search for the little girl would continue, even beyond South Africa’s borders.

“We will not rest until we find [out] what happened to Joshlin. We are continuing day and night looking for her,” Western Cape police commissioner Thembisile Patekile told local media.

Senate passes harmonised version of tax reform bills

The Senate on Wednesday adopted the harmonised version of the tax reform bills proposed by President Bola Tinubu.

The Senate’s resolution followed the consideration of the recommendations of the conference committee of both chambers, which was tasked with aligning the differences in the bills.

Presenting the harmonised report, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, laid out the final agreements reached.

The legislative efforts mark a significant step in overhauling Nigeria’s tax administration and revenue generation framework, as part of the Tinubu administration’s broader fiscal reform agenda.

The four tax reform bills that Tinubu transmitted to the National Assembly in November last year include the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill, 2025 (SB. 583); Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, 2025 (SB. 584); Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, 2025 (SB. 585); and Nigeria Tax Bill, 2025 (SB. 586).

The development comes three days after the parliament hinted it may consider passing the harmonised tax reform bills following a successful review of the contentious clauses in the proposed legislation.

House Committee on Finance Chairman, Hon James Faleke, disclosed this via his official X account on Sunday.

Faleke is the leader of the House delegation for the bills’ harmonisation exercise.

He tweeted, “The Conference Committee set up by the House and the Senate on the Tax Reform Bills has successfully concluded its work. The joint committees thoroughly reviewed all sections and addressed the grey areas of the four Bills, examining each clause strategically and resolving contentious issues.

“After an intensive deliberation that stretched through Thursday night, all day Friday, and into the early hours of Saturday, I am pleased to report that the Bills are now ready to present to the House and the Senate for final passage.”

LEADERSHIP reports that the four tax bills were sent two weeks ago to the joint harmonisation committee, which consists of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, to reconcile the amendments of both chambers before they are transmitted to the president for his assent.

After announcing the passage of the bills following a majority voice vote, Senate President Godswill Akpabio praised the lawmakers for their sacrifice in ensuring that Nigeria’s tax system meets international standards.

“These four executive bills seek to transform and modernise the tax system in Nigeria,” he said.

Senate Approves N1.8trn 2025 FCT Statutory Appropriation Bill

The Senate has approved N1.8 trillion for the 2025 Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Statutory Appropriation Bill.

The approval followed the presentation of the report by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on FCT, Senator Bomai Ibrahim (APC–Yobe), during plenary on Wednesday in Abuja.

Presenting the report, Senator Ibrahim said the Senate and the House Committee on FCT met with the FCT Minister and other relevant officials to deliberate on the appropriation bill.

He explained that the budget breakdown includes a personnel cost of N106 billion, overhead of N352 billion, and total recurrent expenditure of N502 billion. The proposed capital expenditure was N1.3 trillion.

According to him, total personnel cost constitutes 8.29 per cent of the budget, recurrent expenditure accounts for 27.69 per cent, and capital expenditure makes up 72.31 per cent.

He further stated that of the 72.31 per cent allocated to capital expenditure, 85 per cent is dedicated to ongoing projects, while 50 per cent is earmarked for new projects.

Ibrahim noted that the standard best practice for a budget framework is typically 70 per cent for capital and 30 per cent for recurrent expenditures. He commended the FCT budget structure for exceeding this benchmark.

“It is commendable that the FCT budget has 72.31 per cent for capital expenditure and 27.69 per cent for recurrent expenditure. This shows that the budget structure conforms with best practices,” he said.

Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano) lauded the FCTA’s leadership for its performance and urged the Senate to approve the budget to support the FCT Minister and his team’s efforts to improve infrastructure development.

The Senate subsequently passed the 2025 FCTA Statutory Appropriation Bill.

The House of Representatives has passed the N1.81 trillion Appropriation Bill of the FCT for the 2025 fiscal year.

This followed the consideration and adoption of the House Committee on FCT report and the reading of the money bill for the third time at the plenary on Wednesday.

Out of the total sum, N150.35 billion is for personnel costs, N352.02 billion is for overhead costs, and N1.31 trillion is for capital projects.

LEADERSHIP reports that President Bola Tinubu submitted the proposed N1.78 trillion FCT budget to the House, which passed it for second reading last week.

However, as it finally passed, the FCT Appropriation Bill showed that the budget had increased from N1.78 trillion to N1.81 trillion.

Similarly, the House passed through second reading the Rivers State Budget (Appropriation Bill) of N1.481 trillion.

Fleeing Enugu native doctor, wanted for kidnapping, ritual killing, nabbed by immigration at Seme

Officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) at the Badagry-Seme border area have arrested the infamous native doctor, Obi Levi Obieze, alias Levi Obu Onyeka, wanted by the Nigeria Police for alleged involvement in abduction, kidnapping and ritual killing.

The NIS Public Relations Officer, ACI Akinsola Akinlabi, disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja.

He said the Comptroller General of the Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap, has confirmed the arrest.

Part of the statement reads, “According to reports, Obi Levi Obieze, a resident of Umuojor village in Isiagu Community, Enugu State, and a known native doctor, is alleged to have been involved in the kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl on 27th May, 2025.

“The victim was reportedly abducted by a group of three men while walking with her father to farm. She was subsequently rescued by the police from a shrine purportedly linked to the suspect, according to a news article published on 28th May, 2025, by a national newspaper.

“Through credible intelligence, Obi Levi Obieze was apprehended by vigilant men of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Lagos State Border Patrol Command, at Gbaji checkpoint along Badagry-Seme Road while attempting to flee the country on a motorcycle. He is currently in custody, and his identity has been confirmed through a National Identity Management Commission enrolment slip found in his possession. During initial questioning, he admitted to the alleged crimes.

“The Nigeria Immigration Service is collaborating with the Nigeria Police Force for the suspect’s handover and further investigation while reaffirming its commitment to border security,” he stated.

How it all started

There was great outrage in Enugu State  on Monday when some vigilante operatives busted a native doctor who allegedly buried several people alive in a sewage pit for ritual.

The incident happened at Umumba Ndiagu, a community in Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu.

The native doctor has been identified as Onyeka Obu. He is popularly known as Ozo Ezeani as well as “E dey play, E dey show.”

Several video clips circulating on Facebook showed gory images of people dumped in the sewage pit allegedly by the native doctor.

The sewage pit is located at the native doctor’s ongoing building site near his residence.

The body of a pregnant woman was among several bodies found in the pit owned by the native doctor.

Residents told PREMIUM TIMES that the angry youths, upon the discovery, set ablaze the native doctor’s apartment and his vehicles.

“The dead bodies found in Ezeani’s soakaway (sewage pit) clearly show he had been a ritualist, not a native doctor,” Emeka Ozougwu, a resident, told this newspaper.

Many residents were heard in the video clips expressing anger over the incident.

How it was uncovered

Residents told PREMIUM TIMES that the alleged act by the native doctor was uncovered when two boys working for him allegedly abducted a 13-year-old girl in the community.

One of the residents, who asked not to be named, said the girl was subsequently pushed into the sewage pit.

The 13-year-old girl (name withheld) was heard narrating in a video clip how the boys bundled her onto their motorcycle and zoomed off.

The girl’s father, in another clip, confirmed she was abducted in his presence but could not pursue or trace the abductors.

He was said to have reported the incident to the community’s vigilante group, thinking that his daughter’s abductors were kidnappers.

A resident, who asked not to be named, said some vigilante operatives later spotted the boys holding the girl on their motorcycle and traced them to the native doctor’s apartment.

The resident said Mr Ezeani initially attempted to deceive the operatives by expressing surprise over the incident before trying to distract them from entering his apartment.

He said the operatives forced their way into the native doctor’s ongoing building site when they heard the girl’s persistent cries.

“The vigilante people searched the place and found the soakaway (sewage pit),” he said, adding that the youths later arrived at the scene.

A leader of the vigilante operatives narrated how they caught the native doctor and rescued the 13-year-old girl from the sewage pit.

“When we entered the house, we discovered that the girl was in the pit. We flashed our torchlight and saw several dead bodies in the pit. We now rescued the girl,” said the vigilante leader, who asked not to be named.

He said the native doctor and his boys belong to a secret society named “White Club Kingdom” but often present as members of a harmless association.

Meanwhile, there are speculations that a group of native doctors in the community has disowned Mr Ezeani, insisting that he was never their member.

PREMIUM TIMES could not independently verify this.

Demolition

The Chairperson of Ezeagu Local Government Area, Vitalis Ndu, on Tuesday, visited the native doctor’s apartment and the sewage pit.

Mr Ndu was said to have reported the incident to the Enugu State Government for action.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the state government had demolished the native doctor’s apartment over the incident.

“Happening now: The kidnappers and ritualists’ den in Umumba Ndiagu where dead bodies and kidnapped victims were recovered by security operatives is up for demolition,” Josh Ejeh, an aide to Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, wrote on Facebook on Tuesday night.

“I’m there to inspect the development. No room for kidnappers and ritualists in Enugu.”

Mr Ejeh later uploaded a video showing the native doctor’s buildings being demolished.

Before now, the Enugu State Government has been demolishing properties linked to kidnapping and violent crimes in the state.

Arrest of the suspects

Mr Ndukwe, a superintendent of police, said in the Wednesday statement that police operatives from Umumba Division collaborated with Neighbourhood Watch personnel and vigilant community members to arrest the three suspects on Tuesday.

He identified the suspects as Uche Kingsley Agumba, 33; Ilo Nweze Onyedikachi, 36; and Ejike Odinwankpa, 38.

The police spokesperson said the security operatives also collaborated to rescue the 13-year-old girl who was kidnapped for suspected ritual killing by the native doctor’s boys.

Trying times for Nigerian students as candidates write WASSCE exams late at night, examination hall collapses

It has indeed been a troubling time for Nigerian students.. After the JAMB debacle of the past few weeks, widespread confusion ensued across several exam centres in Nigeria on Wednesday, as candidates taking the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) faced hours-long delays in writing the English Language paper.

As if that is not bad enough, dozens of students sitting for the ongoing exams at Government Secondary School, Namnai, in Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State narrowly escaped death on Wednesday evening after their classrooms collapsed during a downpour accompanied by a windstorm.

The students, along with teachers, corps members, and external supervisors, were reportedly trapped in the collapsed structures and had to be rescued by local residents who responded swiftly to the incident.

Several students, both male and female, sustained varying degrees of injuries, with some reportedly suffering fractures to their limbs.

The victims are currently receiving treatment at a nearby Primary Healthcare Centre in the town.

A resident, Alhaji DanAzumi Lauris, who spoke with The PUNCH in a telephone interview, said the incident happened around 6pm, shortly after the second set of students had begun their exams.

“It was the second batch of students still writing their exams that got trapped. The first set had already finished and left.

“The rain came suddenly with strong winds, and the old classroom structures couldn’t withstand it,” he said

He added that the windstorm not only brought down the school buildings but also destroyed several homes in the community.

In a related development, students in Jalingo, the state capital, were also affected by Wednesday’s heavy rainfall.

Some candidates were forced to remain at their exam centres until after 1 am, as the torrential rain made it impossible to return home earlier.

There was also a reported late arrival of WAEC paper for the day, which caused the delay in writing the exams until 8pm, when some centres received the paper.

Efforts were made to contact the Commissioner for Basic Education, Dr. Augustina Godwin, but her phone line was not reachable at the time of filing the story.

On the issue of exams that were written at night, the exam, scheduled to begin at 9:00 am, did not commence until midday at multiple locations.

Even at that, the last paper did not start until nightfall in some centres, with students in Lagos reportedly still writing as late as 11:45 pm under torchlight.

The disruption, which triggered anger among parents and sparked an online backlash, occurred in several southwestern states, including Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, and Osun.

Some sources report that the paper was leaked online, prompting the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to replace it at the last minute.

Responding to the incident, WAEC issued a statement apologising to candidates, parents, and schools.

Moyosola Adesina, acting head of public affairs, said the disruption was a result of intensified security efforts to prevent question leakage.

“While we successfully maintained the integrity of the examination, it impacted the timeliness and seamless conduct of the English Language paper,” the statement reads in part.

The council said it is working with security agencies to prevent future lapses.

Addendum: A lawyer’s guide to authenticating electronic evidence

By Folarin Aluko

The admissibility of electronically generated evidence—particularly audio, photo and video files transferred and played from secondary storage devices—has become increasingly prevalent in Nigerian courts.

Following the publication of the initial article on this subject, a colleague sent an email highlighting a real-life scenario that illustrates several issues raised in the original discussion. The facts, now anonymized, are shared here for illustrative purposes.

The writer sought insight into the evidential implications of tendering an audio message recorded by an individual in the United Kingdom. The person who made the recording sent it to another individual in Nigeria. This second person copied the file onto a flash drive and forwarded it to a lawyer, who then played and tendered it in court through a witness.

Notably, the witness neither created the original recording nor had control over the device from which it originated. Despite this, the content of the flash drive was admitted into evidence by the court.

Interrogating Authentication

Authentication is not a ritual where one utters legalistic incantations from the Evidence Act, to make digital evidence admissible. In an age of deepfakes, metadata manipulation, AI rendering, and seamless video editing, digital evidence may appear persuasive but collapse under scrutiny.

Authentication becomes crucial when:

  1. The evidence has passed through multiple devices or formats;
  2. The author is unavailable for questioning;
  3. The medium is vulnerable to editing, compression, or mislabeling;
  4. The evidence is central to the case’s outcome.

In such situations, forensic reports, metadata, hash values, and system-generated timestamps become the building blocks of integrity. Without them, digital evidence may be technically admissible but practically untrustworthy.

Returning to the Scenario: Two Key Legal Questions Arise

a. Whether the evidence is hearsay, and

b. Whether the audio file was properly authenticated under our current legal framework.

Issue 1: Hearsay

Section 37 of the Evidence Act, 2011 defines hearsay as any statement—oral or written—made by a person not called as a witness, which is offered to establish the truth of the facts asserted in it.

Our Courts have consistently held that evidence is hearsay if the Maker of the statement cannot be cross-examined, and the statement is used to prove its contents. In the locus classicus case of Subramaniam v. Public Prosecutor, 1 W.L.R. 965 (1956) the Privy Council held that:

“Evidence of a statement made to a witness by a person who is not himself called as a witness… is hearsay and inadmissible when the object of the evidence is to establish the truth of what is contained in the statement.”

In the scenario presented above, we can deduce that

  1. The UK-based author of the audio message was not in court;
  2. The message was offered to prove what the sender allegedly said;
  3. The person who presented the evidence was neither the author nor the custodian of the original device.

By these standards, the audio message has the quintessential features of hearsay and unless it falls within one of the few recognized exceptions to the rule, it ought to have been excluded.

Issue 2: Authentication

Authenticating digital evidence involves more than confirming its existence. It requires proof that the document is what it claims to be and that it has not been altered during creation, storage, or transmission.

The Supreme Court, in Dickson v. Sylva (2017) 8 NWLR (Pt. 1567) 167, has affirmed the mandatory compliance with Section 84(2) and (4) as the legal threshold for authenticating digital evidence.

Authentication of Electronic Evidence requires an appreciation of the legal and the technical; the digital evidence must be shown to be genuine and reliable.

As previously established, the law provides two clear routes:

  1. Oral testimony from someone who can speak credibly to how the document was produced, stored, and transferred;
  2. A Certificate of Compliance under Section 84(4), issued by a person responsible for the system or device used.

In the case at hand,

  • The Tendering Party neither created the recording nor controlled the originating device;
  • No certificate was provided to explain how the message was generated or transferred;
  • The witness lacked the technical or factual basis to establish authenticity.

On this basis, we can conclude that the audio message was not properly authenticated. Merely copying a file onto a flash drive, without establishing chain of custody or verifying its digital integrity, falls short of the standard required by law.

In order to authenticate the audio file, the party seeking to tender same in the scenario would have to produce details of the original device, along with system logs or metadata showing when and how the message was created and sent, giving the Court a stronger footing on which to rely on the evidence. Opposing Counsel can reverse engineer these points to arrive at valid technical objections to raise- that is a story for another day.

Conclusion

To summarize

  1. Yes, the message is hearsay if tendered to prove the truth of what the UK sender said, and should be excluded unless it falls within a recognized exception.
  2. Mere documentary authentication is insufficient where the tendering party was neither the author of the content nor the custodian of the originating system—and failed to provide a certificate under Section 84.
  3. Even if admitted, such evidence may be accorded little weight and may be vulnerable to exclusion on appeal.

Proper authentication would require

  1. A Section 84 certificate from the custodian of the originating device or platform with documented Chain of Custody;
  2. Oral evidence from a person familiar with the creation and handling of the file;
  3. Forensic analysis where authenticity is disputed.

I remain grateful to the colleague who generously shared this scenario, and to the many others who continue to engage with these evolving questions—on social media and by email.

Folarin Aluko is an IP Lawyer, Digital Rights Expert, and Partner at Trumann Rockwood Solicitors. He can be reached at [email protected].

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