Alh. Abubakar Haruna Khalil Esq, Chief Registrar, Sharia Court of Appeal, Kano, has issued a circular abolishing the exclusive use of English as the language of the Court.
This is contained in a circular dated 17th September 2024 and directed to All Hon Kadis, All Directors,, All Upper and Sharia Court Judges, All Staff, All Lawyers and The General Public.
The Circular reads:
USE OF ENGLISH AS AN OPTIONAL LANGUAGE IN THE PROCEEDINGS OF SHARIA COURT OF APPEAL, KANO.
This is to bring to the notice of the general public particularly lawyers and litigants that, it has been resolved that, henceforth litigants either through their legal representatives or in person are at liberty and free to conduct their respective appeals and file their processes in either Hausa or English language.
CONSEQUENTLY,
i) Any appeal initiated in one of the two languages that language must be adopted throughout the proceedings to the end of the case.
ii) No switch over is allowed. In other words, once a language has been put to use at the beginning of an appeal, it must be maintained till the end of the appeal.
iii) Until otherwise directed in a Circular to be issued later, transmission of Hausa version of record of proceeding of the lower Court to SCA shall continue. In other words translated English version of the lower Courts’ record of proceedings is not necessary at the moment.
Finally, the cooperation and compliance of all and sundry are not only required but shall be highly appreciated.
Thank you.
