The Office of the Public Defender (OPD), Lagos State Ministry of Justice in collaboration with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) and Lawyers Without Borders has begun a six-day capacity-building programme on Trial Advocacy, Forensics and Restorative Justice.
About 70 lawyers in the ministry will benefit from the training which kicked off yesterday at the OPD’s headquarters in Surulere.
The interactive annual event, the sixth in the series, will groom lawyers from the MOJ and OPD, among others.
United States Court of Appeals Judge, Justices Ann Williams, George Washington of the San Diego County Superior Court, California, and Margo Brodie of the New York District Court.
The NITA and Lawyers Without Borders faculty include about 15 judges and academics from the United States including US Court of Appeals Judge Justice Ann Williams, George Washington of the San Diego County Superior Court, California, and Margo Brodie of the New York District Court, and three others from Kenya.
They will be assisted by a Lagos MoJ faculty comprising High Court judges, magistrates and other experts.
Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, in a statement read on his behalf by an MoJ Director, Mr. Saheed Quadri, praised the OPD for being at the forefront of ensuring that indigent and vulnerable Lagos residents get quality representation.
“We are delighted that this platform has been made available for the office to re-train itself and also add new skills for its effectiveness in trials in courts throughout the state,” Onigbanjo added.
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He praised NITA and Lawyers without Borders “and the distinguished members of the team & faculty who have come all the way from the United States of America to work with us.”
OPD Director Mrs Olubunmi Adesomoju said with partnerships and collaborations “such as our programme with NITA (US) this week, we keep breaking through to new horizons again and again.”
Adesomoju added: “I know I speak for all of my staff in expressing profound gratitude to the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and its distinguished Faculty for working hand in hand with us for the past six years. Much to your credit, defence counsel from the OPD are formidable in their ability to tackle the prosecuting counsel during the trial of their cases in court.”
A member of the OPD Governing Council, Mr. Ayo Olusanwo, said it is important for OPD legal officers to be “trained regularly in order to promote capacity-building as a means to guarantee that these officers are kept abreast of legal skills required in legal aid enterprise in line with best practice…”
Justice Olayinka Adeyemi, a former OPD Director, thanked the agency director and officials for “keeping the flag flying” and urged the trainees to “take advantage of the programme” adding that it is sure to improve their practice of the law.
“To the faculty, God bless you,” Justice Adeyemi added.
Judge Williams, who spoke on the delegation’s behalf, said the training was done at no cost. She explained that the NITA and Lawyers Without Borders members were encouraged by, among others, the “light in your eyes, which fuels the light in our eyes”.