CJN: AI Risking Section 36 Fair Hearing Rights in Nigeria's Courts

For legal professionals, the CJN's address is a landmark statement on the boundaries of technology in the courtroom. It underscores that while AI can enhance efficiency, the constitutional right to a fair hearing under Section 36 demands explainable, transparent processes that only human judges can provide.

Nigeria's Chief Justice, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, has drawn a firm line on the role of artificial intelligence in the nation's courts, warning that while technology is transforming legal practice, it must never replace the constitutional responsibility of judges. Speaking at the opening of the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association Lagos Law Week on June 29, her keynote—titled 'Beyond Disruption: Redefining Legal Practice at the Intersection of Law, Technology and Justice'—offered one of the most significant judicial pronouncements on AI from an African apex court. The address arrives as courts worldwide grapple with generative AI tools, algorithmic decision-support systems, and the use of electronic evidence, raising urgent questions about fairness, transparency, and the rule of law. Kekere-Ekun's stance sets a benchmark for how developing legal systems can balance innovation with constitutional safeguards.

“

The address may catalyze the Nigerian Bar Association and the National Judicial Institute (which she commended for ongoing training) to develop standards and curricula for digital-age lawyering.

The CJN explicitly identified a spectrum of emerging technologies—AI, blockchain, digital assets, cybercrime, electronic evidence, and synthetic media—as forces that have 'fundamentally altered legal practice and judicial adjudication.' She stressed that technological literacy is now indispensable for judges, noting that disputes involving these technologies are increasingly landing in courtrooms. This observation is particularly salient for Nigeria, where the judiciary faces a backlog of over 100,000 cases and where some stakeholders have floated AI as a case-management solution. However, Kekere-Ekun countered any notion of algorithmic adjudication, declaring, 'Technology is an instrument of justice. It can never become its substitute.' Her warning was not merely rhetorical; it directly invoked Section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees the right to a fair hearing. She highlighted that opaque AI systems—those whose reasoning cannot be explained—pose a direct threat to that right, because litigants cannot challenge a decision when its basis is unknowable. This aligns with a growing global consensus, from the European Union's AI Act to guidelines from the Council of Europe, that judicial AI must be explainable and subject to human oversight.