A university lecturer, Dr. Akin Oluwadayisi, has advocated for improved compensation for judges upon retirement in recognition of their intellectual labour, particularly in the writing of court judgments.
He suggested that a portion of the profits generated from legal publications should be taxed and redirected towards judges’ welfare.
Dr. Oluwadayisi, who is the Head of the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, made this recommendation while presenting a paper at the All Universities’ Law Librarian Workshop/Conference held on Wednesday, July 20, 2025. The event was organised by the Council of Legal Education at the Nigerian Law School, Abuja.
Highlighting the economic and labour contributions of judges, Oluwadayisi noted that while court judgments are publicly accessible and can be used under the “fair use” doctrine, there remains a need for a more equitable approach that acknowledges the intellectual property involved.
He criticised private firms that publish and profit from law reports without offering any form of compensation to the judges who author the content, stating that significant effort goes into crafting judicial opinions—some of which run into thousands of pages.
Oluwadayisi noted that these judgments are often “repackaged” and monetised, yet the authors—the judges—receive no benefit from such commercial exploitation.
He proposed that legal publishing firms be mandated to contribute between 3 to 5 percent of their profits to a dedicated fund for the benefit of retired judges and the broader judicial system.
According to him, the model would function similarly to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), which pools private sector contributions for the benefit of educational institutions.
The legal scholar also raised concerns over the increasing dominance of electronic law report publishers and its implications for legal research.
He pointed out that students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels are affected by the copyright claims of electronic reporters, particularly when plagiarism checks, such as Turnitin, classify court judgments as proprietary content.