Justice must not be sold to highest bidder, bishop warns judges, lawyers

The Bishop of the Diocese of Lagos West, Anglican Communion, Right Rev. James Odedeji, has warned judges and lawyers against allowing wealth, influence, status or personal interests to undermine the administration of justice.

Odedeji gave the warning on Monday while delivering a sermon titled “Faithfulness” at the 2026/2027 New Legal Year Special Service of the Lagos State Judiciary at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos.

Citing Leviticus 19:15, he urged members of the legal profession not to oppress the poor or favour the wealthy, but to administer justice fairly. He said justice must not be sold or reserved for those who could afford it, urging judicial officers and lawyers to treat every responsibility entrusted to them as a sacred trust.

“Justice must not be sold. Justice must not be distorted. Justice must not depend on status. Justice must not become available unto those who can afford it, the highest bidders. The poor must not be despised, the powerful must not receive preferential treatment simply because they are powerful, they are wealthy, or they are well-connected,” the bishop said.

Drawing his sermon from 1 Corinthians 4:2, which states that “it is required in stewards that one be found faithful,” Odedeji said the beginning of a new legal year should prompt members of the judiciary and the Bar to reflect on the responsibilities attached to their offices.

He said judges and lawyers must look beyond the wigs and gowns they wear and remember that their decisions could affect the liberty, property, reputation and, in some cases, the lives of other people. “We are stewards and not owners. Whatever position the Lord has given to us is borrowed,” he said.

He also quoted John 3:27, which states that “a man can receive nothing except it is given to him from God,” and Hebrews 5:4, which says that no man takes the honour of office upon himself except he is called.

The bishop said judicial office, legal briefs and the confidence of clients were trusts that demanded faithfulness, adding that the higher the office, the greater the responsibility. “A judicial office is a trust. A brief entrusted to a lawyer is a trust. The confidence of a client is a trust. The liberty, the property, the reputation, and sometimes even the life of another human being are under the influence of our decisions made within the legal year. Therefore, the higher the office, the greater the responsibility,” he said.

Odedeji warned that professional success without integrity could ultimately amount to failure, saying lawyers could win cases while losing their conscience. “A person may win a case and still lose his integrity. A person may obtain judgment in his favour and still stand condemned in his own conscience,” he said.

He urged lawyers to ensure that their competence was matched by sound character, warning that a powerful advocate without conscience could turn the law into an instrument of oppression. “Therefore, let your competence be impressive, but let your character be unquestionable as you start a new legal year,” he said.

The bishop also cautioned judicial officers against using authority to dominate or humiliate people, stressing that occupying a position of power did not make others inferior. He said everyone in authority remained accountable to God, whom he described as “a judge above every judge.”

“There is a judge above every judge, there’s an authority above every authority, there is a court from which no appeal is possible,” Odedeji said.

He added that God could not be manipulated, intimidated, bribed or deceived by eloquence or legal technicalities. According to him, the knowledge that every person would ultimately face divine judgement should encourage judges and lawyers to act with integrity even when their actions were not subject to public scrutiny.

“God sees beyond evidence. He sees the motives, He sees the intention, He sees what happened behind closed doors, He sees the conversation nobody recorded, He sees the money nobody declared,” he said.

Odedeji further urged members of the legal profession not to measure success by the positions they attained, but by their faithfulness in discharging their responsibilities. “The world we belong to often measures success by position. But scripture measures success by faithfulness,” he said.

He said positions were temporary, while the consequences of decisions and the legacies left behind could endure beyond the tenure of office. “Your office, my office is a trust, your authority is an assignment, your position is temporary, your decisions have consequences, your character matters, your conscience matters, and your ultimate accountability is to God,” he said.

The bishop urged the judges and lawyers to remain committed to justice, mercy and humility as they commenced the new legal year. “May you never become so familiar with the law that you lose your reverence for justice. And may you never become occupied with judging others that you forget that one day, all of us will equally be judged. Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God… May we be faithful to the end,” he said.