The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Tanko Muhammad, has called for the cooperation of judges, lawyers, litigants, and law enforcement agencies to tackle issues of delay in dispensation of justice in the country .
Justice Muhammad made the call at the Colloquium of Appellate Justices on the Administration of Criminal Justice (ACJA), 2015 and Anti-graft Laws (AGLS), in Abuja on Wednesday.
The colloquium was put together by the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (CSLS), in collaboration with the Court of Appeal and the National Judicial Council (NJC).
The Chief Justice, who was represented by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, stated that the prevailing paradigm is that the courts in this country must rise to the huge responsibility of using the law to advance the interest of justice and the collective good.
Justice Muhammad said, “Delay in the dispensation of justice remains a major challenge due to the failure by various actors including some judges, legal practitioners, law enforcement agencies, litigants, and witnesses to appreciate or play their roles in the speedy dispensation of Justice.We must all address the problem of delay headlong and find creative solutions thereto.”
He harped on the need for judges, particularly justices of the appellate court who play a dual role of applying the law and validating decisions of lower courts to have a firm grasp of the law so as to apply it effectively and justly.
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On the part of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), enforcement of the provisions of section 396 (2)-(7) of ACJA, particularly award of punitive costs under section 396 (6) ACJA, against counsel who file frivolous applications to delay trial can discourage such abuse of legal process by counsel.
In addition, the ICPC boss harped on the need to query the merits and demerits of the implementation of section 270 of ACJA on plea bargaining and how it impacts the work of anti-corruption agencies and public perception of justice delivery.
On his part, President of the CSLS, Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George (SAN), while urging the Federal Government and the leadership of the judiciary to make more effort to strengthen the administration of justice by reducing the congestion of courts by addressing the welfare challenges of judges and justices, he said that security must not be compromised.
The senior lawyer stressed that the Supreme Court must either be expanded to admit more justices or have the scope of cases going to it drastically curtailed through a well-targeted constitutional amendment.
The colloquium is to create a platform to share ideas and rub minds on the emerging jurisprudence on the role of the appellate courts in ensuring effective implementation of the ACJA.
