Lateef Fagbemi, Justice Sector Reforms and Matters Arising
By Edwin Uhara
Last month, the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice in collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the National Judicial Council (NJC) organised a National Justice Reform Summit to overhaul the challenges plaguing the sector in the contemporary scheme of things.
The theme of the summit was “Repositioning the Justice System: Constitutional, Statutory and Operational Reforms for Access and Efficiency.”
The factor that gave impetus for the summit was the need to review, validate and adopt the revised National Policy on Justice 2024 – 2028 in order to drive the prison reforms, access to justice for the ordinary Nigerian as well as the review of relevant electoral laws and procedures in handling election related matters.
Others include; to promote social cohesion, bolster economic development and foster good governance.
To deliberate on draft legislations proposed to address specific identified challenges within the justice sector, relating to the judicial appointments process, administration, funding and budgeting for the judiciary, the elimination of delays and inefficiencies in justice delivery and to evolve ways to reduce the amount of time for adjudication of cases, eliminate some of the associated technicalities, and reduce the number of cases getting to the Supreme Court.
Recall that the last National Justice Summits were held in 2017 and 2022 respectively.
While the last National Policy on Justice lasted from (2017 – 2023) with emphasis on the administration of justice, law enforcements, judicial proceedings, correctional services, restorative and traditional justice, legal education and practice among others.
Highlighting the contents and focus of the revised national justice policy, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN said, ‘the revised policy seeks to promote and protect human rights and access to justice which are essential features of a functional justice system.’
“The policy also seeks to improve mechanisms for fair and speedy dispensation of justice; detention and correctional services; restorative justice; Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) – developing Nigeria into an arbitration hub on the continent; commerce and economic activities; compliance with treaty obligations; synergy and cooperation across the justice sector and independence of the judiciary; among others.
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No doubt, the efforts of the Attorney General is worth commending because when the justice sector is right, all other things will fall in line because we need a judicial system that inspires confidence.
Investors cannot stake their capital without first of all looking at the justice system of the country before making any investment decision because that is the guage that will tell them whether they can recover their funds when the business goes awry.
Without efficient judicial system, the talk about prison decongestion remains a mirage because there cannot be an effective prison decongestion without reforming the legal frameworks that allowed it to be congested in the place.
Today, most inmates in our prisons are awaiting trials. Some of them were arrested at the behest of one big man they offend over minor argument but because the big man has the means, he would want to use the incident to make a point about his status in the society.
Again, there is the need to promote the Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism across the country because people cannot be going to court over minor issues let alone going to the Supreme Court with issues like Landlord-tenant disagreement.
Accordingly, the idea of creating a state court of appeal is also a healthy move towards balancing of jurisprudential powers between the state governments and the federal government.
Such idea should be made to see the light of the day as it will save and reduce the cost of litigations at all levels.
Another area that deserves commendation is the move to improve the remuneration of our judicial workers.
If the remuneration of our judicial officers are not motivating enough, their integrity may be compromised. And when such is the case, the confidence of the litigating public may be affected by the lack of integrity and character of judicial officer.
According to Prince Fagbemi, between May 1999 and March 2011, the Federal Government had reviewed the salaries and allowances of public servants and political office holders on four occasions, specifically in 2000, 2005, 2007 and 2011 and new regimes of national minimum wage, were also put in place within the same period but the salaries of judicial officers were only reviewed twice during the same period.
Undoubtedly, the 17 thematic areas of the revised national policy on justice 2024 – 2028 aimed at reforming the justice sector to enhance its effectiveness and accessibility to all Nigerians is really a new paradigm in the justice system. And the Honourable Minister deserves a great pat on the back.
Comrade Edwin Uhara is a UN-trained negotiator and Public Affairs Analyst
