THE RECORDING OF CROSS-EXAMINATION QUESTIONS IN NIGERIA: A LEGAL APPRAISAL

Abstract

The right to a fair hearing connotes or involves a fair trial and a fair trial of a case consists of the whole hearing; yes, the whole hearing. By section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, the aforesaid right to a fair hearing is guaranteed. Cross-examination is a vital feature in the proceedings/trial of contentious cases and it is a noble art that occupies an Olympian position in the administration of justice. The noble art of cross-examination is the index with which the truth or otherwise of evidence-in-chief is usually measured in appropriate cases. Skilful questioning and questions constitute a very important tool in the noble art of cross-examination. Meanwhile, some judicial officers in the trial courts oftentimes neglect and/or fail to record cross-examination questions [i.e. questions asked under cross-examination]; in other words, such judicial officers record only the responses/answers elicited from a witness under cross-examination. Perhaps, this is so because the said judicial officers would want to save both time and strength since judicial officers in Nigeria are still required to record in longhand which mode of recording bountifully consumes both time and strength. Accordingly, this work interrogates the legal place of questioning and recording of cross-examination questions vis-à-vis the concept of fair hearing. It is the researchers’ finding that questioning and questions constitute the foundation upon which responses/answers elicited under cross-examination should stand in the records of trial Courts, even as it is axiomatic that the context of every response/answer is defined by the questions pursuant to which the response/answer was volunteered or given. This work adopted the doctrinal research methodology in its work analysis relying on primary and secondary sources in the cause of this research. It is further found that non-recording of cross-examination questions by a trial Court will not only lead the trial Court into the temptation of speculation in the course of evaluating evidence but may equally amount to a breach of a party’s fundamental right to a fair hearing. This work recommends that cross-examination questions should be given their due place and space in the Record of Proceedings of trial Courts even as the Supreme Court has held that the Record of Proceedings is the only indication of what takes place in Court and is always the final reference of events, step by step, that took place in the trial Court.