SUPREME COURT OF CAMEROON
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ADDRESS OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF CAMEROON
2025 SOLEMN RE-OPENING COURT SESSION
Presided over by Justice FONKWE Joseph FONGANG, President of the Judicial Bench, sitting in for the Chief Justice unavoidably absent
21st February 2025
ADDRESS BY THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT ON THE OCCASION OF THE FORMAL OPENING OF THE SUPREME COURT
YEAR 2025
The Honorable President of the Senate,
The Honorable Speaker of the National Assembly,
The President of the Economic and Social Council,
The Honorable Prime Minister, Head of Government,
The President of the Constitutional Counsel,
The Minister Delegate, Representative of the Minister of State Minister of Justice, keeper of the Seals,
Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Ministers,
Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Ministers delegates and Secretaries of State,
Ambassadors and Representatives of International Organisations,
The Supreme Court rejoices at your distinguished presence here today and expresses its immense gratitude for your renewed honour.
The Mayor of the Yaounde City Council,
Dear Judicial and Legal Officers,
The President of the Bar Association,
The President of the National Association of Bailiffs,
The President of the National Council of Notaries Public,
The Secretary General of the Supreme Court,
Distinguished Registrars-in-Chief,
Dear Lawyers,
Ladies and Gentlemen in your respective grades and titles,
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Members of the Supreme Court, through my modest voice, appreciate your presence at the 2025 Solemn re-opening Session of the Supreme Court, despite your very busy schedules. You are warmly welcome.
This year, the Lord Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is unavoidably absent. Section 6(1) of the organic law of the Supreme Court stipulates:
“In case of unavailability, the Chief Justice shall be replaced by the most senior Bench President in the highest scale”.
I therefore have the honour to preside over this solemn session.
Pursuant to the provisions of section 33 of Law No. 2006/016 of 29 December 2006 to lay down the organisation and functioning of the Supreme Court, the solemn reopening of the Judicial Year holds this day, 21st February 2025, in the ceremonial hall of the Supreme Court.
Following the relevant submissions of the Learned Procureur General, I would like, in turn, to address a matter that often gives rise to controversy, so pervasive is it in our daily practice, a subject whose outlines appear blurred to litigants and even to legal practitioners, such as Judicial and Legal Officers, Lawyers, Notaries and Bailiffs, to name but a few.
The theme for our collective consideration is "Formalism in the Judicial System".
An old-age adage, prevalent in human communities, states that "all form and no substance makes your story a waste of time"
Victor Hugo, the great French literary author, asserted:
“Form is substance which rises to the surface”
In general terms, formalism can be defined as the practice or doctrine of strict adherence to prescribed or external forms.