Almost everything frightening about a first court appearance is the not knowing. This is a plain description of the shape of a day, so that nothing on it is a surprise.
Procedure varies between courts and between states, and your lawyer’s account of your own case always beats a general description. But the shape is broadly consistent.
Before you go in
You will arrive, find the right court — ask a clerk, and ask early — and then wait. Cases are listed together rather than at individual times, and yours may be third or eleventh on the list.
Waiting areas are usually corridors and usually shared, which means the other side waits there too. Ask your lawyer in advance whether there is anywhere separate. What to arrange before the day deals with this and with the journey.
Dress ordinarily and respectably. Turn your phone off rather than to silent. Take identification, your documents, food, water and money for a later journey home than you expect.
Who is in the room
- The judge or magistrate, addressed as the court directs. Your lawyer will tell you the correct form.
- The court clerk or registrar, who handles the file and the exhibits.
- A recorder, or the judge writing in longhand, which is one reason proceedings are slow.
- Your lawyer, and his.
- Him. Usually, though not always, and it is worth asking whether his attendance is required.
- Court officials and security.
- Members of the public. Courts are generally open, which is worth knowing in advance. In some circumstances a court can sit in chambers, and it is worth asking your lawyer whether that can be applied for.
The order of events
- The case is called and the lawyers announce themselves.
- Preliminary matters. Whether everybody has been served, whether documents are in order, whether anybody is asking for an adjournment. A great many days consist only of this.
- Applications. Anything urgent — an interim order, a variation, permission to file something.
- Evidence, if the matter is being heard. Your side first if you are the applicant.
- Cross-examination by the other lawyer.
- Their evidence, and cross-examination by your lawyer.
- Submissions by the lawyers.
- Decision, or more often a date for a decision.
Most days do not reach step four. Adjournment at step two is extremely common and it is not a sign that anything has gone wrong.
Giving evidence
You will take an oath or affirm, then answer questions. Your own lawyer goes first and the questions will be broadly the ones you have discussed.
Some plain advice that holds everywhere:
- Speak to the judge, not to the lawyer asking, and not to him.
- Slow down. Where the judge is writing, you must go at that pace, and you will be told.
- Answer only what was asked. Do not fill silences, and do not explain more than the question needs.
- “I do not remember” is a proper answer. So is “I do not know”. Guessing is what causes damage.
- Correct yourself immediately if you get something wrong. It costs nothing at the time and a great deal later.
- Do not exaggerate. One overstated detail is used to attack everything else, and understating is safer.
- Ask for a question to be repeated if you did not follow it.
- Take a moment before answering. Nobody is timing you.
Cross-examination
This is the part women dread and it is worth knowing what it is actually like.
His lawyer’s job is to test your account, and the standard approaches are predictable: that you delayed reporting, that you have no evidence, that you are motivated by money or by the children, that you provoked it, that you have exaggerated, that you went back so it cannot have been serious.
None of these is a discovery. They are the routine lines and your lawyer will have prepared you for them.
Do not argue with the lawyer and do not become angry, however unfair the question. Answer it plainly and let it go. If a question is improper your lawyer will object; that is their job rather than yours.
Where you delayed, say why — fear, no money, family pressure, being told to settle it at home. Those are complete answers and courts hear them constantly.
Interpreters and language
You are entitled to give evidence in a language you are comfortable in, and courts routinely use interpreters.
Ask for one in advance rather than on the day, and say which language. Do not accept a relative of his as interpreter, and say so if it is suggested. If you do not understand something an interpreter says, say so at the time — it is much harder to correct afterwards. More on language and interpreters is set out separately.
How long it takes
Longer than anybody tells you at the start.
A protection order application can be relatively quick, and it is designed to be. A contested divorce, custody or property matter is measured in months and frequently years, with adjournments throughout.
Knowing that in advance is genuinely protective, because the most common way these cases end is that the woman runs out of money, time and stamina rather than losing. If the other side has more resources, delay is a strategy.
Afterwards
Ask your lawyer three things before you leave: what happened, what the next date is, and what you need to do before it. Get the next date in writing.
Ask for a copy of any order made, and keep it somewhere safe with a second copy elsewhere. If an order was made in your favour, ask specifically what happens if he breaches it and who to call — the answer matters more than the order.
Then look after the rest of the day. Court is exhausting in a way that is out of proportion to what physically happened, and the days afterwards are when risk is highest.
If you have no lawyer
Some proceedings can be conducted without one, particularly in the lower courts, and you will do considerably better with one.
Before your date, try FIDA, the Legal Aid Council, or a law faculty clinic, and tell them the date — urgency moves things. What is free and what is not sets out the routes. We can also arrange representation and send somebody with you.
Questions people ask
Will I have to see him?
Usually yes, though not always, and it is worth asking your lawyer whether his attendance is required and whether separate waiting arrangements are possible. Ask in advance; nothing can be arranged on the morning.
Is court open to the public?
Generally yes. In some circumstances a court can sit in chambers and your lawyer can apply for that, which is worth raising early if publicity is a concern.
What if I cannot remember something?
“I do not remember” and “I do not know” are proper answers. Guessing is what causes damage, and correcting yourself immediately costs nothing at the time.
Can I give evidence in my own language?
Yes, and courts routinely use interpreters. Ask in advance and name the language. Do not accept a relative of his as interpreter.
Why does it keep getting adjourned?
Most court days consist only of preliminary matters, and adjournment is routine rather than a sign anything went wrong. It is also sometimes a tactic, since the party with more resources can afford more delay.
If you need help now
If you are in immediate danger, call 112. To talk to HealBridge, email us at hello@healbridge.org, or use the form on our contact page. Every page on this site has a Quick Exit button at the top right, and pressing the letter E three times does the same thing.
Before you rely on anything on this page
We publish these articles so that you can understand a subject and work out what to ask for. They are written carefully and in good faith. They are still general information about how things usually work, and not advice about your situation, which we do not know.
- This is not legal advice.
- We are not a law firm. Criminal law in Nigeria is largely a state matter, the VAPP Act applies in a state only if that state adopted it, and statutory, customary and Islamic marriages are governed by different law and different courts. Two people with the same facts can have genuinely different options. Get advice from a lawyer who practises where you live — and if cost is the obstacle, ask us, because arranging that is part of what we do.
- This is not medical advice.
- Nothing here is a diagnosis and nothing here replaces being examined. Do not delay seeing a doctor, nurse or pharmacist because of something you read here, and do not start, stop or change any treatment on the strength of it. If something is time critical, go and be seen.
- This is not counselling, and it is not financial advice.
- Articles about trauma, sleep, money, debt, renting or starting a business describe what commonly helps. They are not therapy and they are not a recommendation about your own money. Speak to a counsellor, a qualified adviser or your own bank about your circumstances.
- It may be out of date, or wrong for where you are.
- Law changes, services close, numbers stop answering and practice varies by state. We correct what we find, and we cannot promise that every page is current on the day you read it. Where we do not have something confirmed, we say so rather than fill the gap.
- Reading this does not make us your lawyer or your doctor.
- No professional relationship is created by reading an article, and we cannot accept liability for decisions taken on the strength of one. What we can do is help you reach somebody who is qualified to advise you, which is what the legal and health parts of our work exist for.
- We cannot promise an outcome, and we cannot make anybody safe.
- A protection order is a piece of paper backed by an enforcement system that is inconsistent. A plan works until the day it does not. Anybody in this field promising safety is selling something, and the promise itself is dangerous because it stops people planning.
Do not let this notice stop you acting. If you are in immediate danger, call 112. If something is medically urgent, go to a hospital — you do not need a police report to be treated. And if you do not know where to start, that is a normal way to begin: use the contact page and we will take it from there.
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