DIES NON-JURIDICUS

• Date: 06 February 2019

"The next question to be resolved is whether it is proper for us to sit and adjudicate over the matter during our vacation. In resolving that question, it is necessary to bring into focus the three categories of days in which the Court’s services are not freely given. The first of such days is known as dies non-juridicus. That term is aptly defined in Jowitt’s Dictionary of English Law, 2nd ed. by John Burke Vol. 1, page 612 as: - "A day on which no legal business can be transacted, such as Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday, etc." The days mentioned above, except Sunday are also included in the Schedule to the Public Holidays Act (Cap. 378 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990) as days, which are to be kept as public holidays. - Section 4 of the Public Holidays Act provides that: - "No person shall be compellable to do any act on a day appointed by or under the provisions of this Act to be kept as a public holiday which he would not be compelled to do on a Sunday." The position in law is that no legal proceeding can be held or entertained on Sundays and public holidays: See Ososami v. Police (1952) 14 W.A.C.A. 24; and Itaye v. Ekaidere (1978) 9 & 10 S.C. 35. The second and third categories are respectively non-working days and period of Court vacation. An example of a non-working day is Saturday. Although Saturday is a non-working day, the day is not mentioned in the schedule to the Public Holidays Act as a day to be regarded as a public holiday. It is therefore not in the same category as Sunday or any day declared or mentioned as public holidays in the Public Holidays Act. The term "vacation", on the other hand, is defined in Jowitt’s Dictionary of English Law, (supra,) Vol. 2 page 1846, inter alia, as follows: - "the vacations are the periods of the year during which the Courts and chambers of the Supreme Court of Judicature are closed for ordinary business." As can be seen from the above definition, the Court are only closed "for ordinary business." during the period of the vacation and non-working days. It will therefore not be unlawful for a Court to sit and determine matters which it considers urgent; such as applications for injunctions and for extension of time etc. See the definition of the term "vacation" in Jowitt’s Dictionary of English Law, (supra), Vol. 2 page 1846; and Denning, M.R. The Discipline of Law, 1979, page 137. The duty placed on the Courts to act swiftly in attending to urgent matters filed in Court even during...