I appeared alongside my boss at the Court of Appeal Lagos one certain day. As the norms of the court room demanded: we sat 9am sharp, with My Lords ready for the business of the day and a full Court room of lawyers all robbed and neatly dressed. The older lawyers appeared relaxed, waiting for their turns to be heard.
The young lawyers all looked puzzled, perhaps afraid and entangled at the thought of the beautiful appearance to put up. One could observe they all quietly rehearsed their arguments and syntax of words to use in addressing the Court.
The SAN's addressed the Court first and left. Afterwards, a young lawyer like myself stood up to address the court, probably taken aback by the scary atmosphere, lacked a high pitch to the volume of his voice and began muttering few words also scattering his case file in the process. He made several applications whilst I also observed that "My Lords"needed guidance as to the dates of the applications he was moving before them. My Lords echoed and asked countless times "counsel, your application is dated what?..."
The importance of dating a process cannot be over emphasized. Upon filing at the Court registry and during preparation(lawyer's chamber), dates should be inserted in documents.
Importance of Dates:
1. It aids your presentation and as well guides the judge who carefully verifies your position with the documents before the Court upon address.
2. It helps to know if a process is status - barred(within the stipulated time limit) or not.
3. It helps in calculating the payment of default fees upon late filing.
5. It serves as a check and balance system in compliance with the Rules of the Court and Practice.
6. It serves as an evidence of due execution (especially deeds).The importance is endless
Next time you happen to be in court as a Counsel, humbly inform the Court properly of applications you make or move while addressing the court. For example, say "My Lord, I have an application/Motion paper dated 8th day of February,2017, filed on the same day or state the date it was filed where it is different from the date it was prepared...". It would save you embarrassing moments and the confusion many times one is thrown into.