Stakeholders have met in Lagos to evolve an action plan for the Lagos State judiciary as applicable in most developed justice systems, reports ADEBISI ONANUGA
Stakeholders have explored ways to improve justice delivery, especially in the criminal justice sector.
They met in Lekki, Lagos to brainstorm and develop a reform action plan.
At the three-day workshop were participants from the ministries of justice, the Police, the Prisons, High Court judges, magistrates, National Human Rights Commission representatives and non- governmental organisations.
The workshop was funded by the United Nations (UN), through the Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and the Federal Government under a project code-named NGA/S08: ”Support to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Judiciary”.
A document, “State Judiciary Plan of Action for Strengthening Justice Sector Integrity and Capacity 2008-2010” was the platform for the activities of participants at the workshop that took place between May 19 and May 22. Participants were divided into four working groups according to thematic areas, which included “coordination between justice sector Institutions; enhancing training, research and operational capacity in justice delivery; enhancing access to justice and respect for human rights and strengthening the accountability, integrity, oversight and independence of criminal justice institution”.
Participants considered the various challenges faced in the administration of the justice system and achieving effective and efficient justice system in the state, particularly as they affect activities and role of the police, lawyers, the ministries of Justice, the prison authority, the non governmental organisations (NGOs) since the initial action plan of 2008 and 2010 came into being. They proffered probable solutions and finally developed a new action plan for justice sector reforms in Lagos State.
A time frame for the implementation of some aspects of the new plan was also set to start in August, this year, while January next year was set for those that would require budgetary allocations. Since Lagos is believed to be far ahead of other states in justice sector reform, the workshop also considered the landmark achievement Lagos has recorded in the various reforms it had carried out in the sector so far and how such could perculate to other states of the federation.
Project coordinator, Justice Sector Reform, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), Mr. Ade Omofade, pointed out that Lagos was chosen as pilot state because it has consistently blazed the trail in implementing judicial reforms.
He disclosed that the organisation would be embarking on the review and update of the action plan in nine other states of the country. He listed those states as Anambra; Bayelsa; Benue; Cross Rivers; Imo; Osun; Katsina; Yobe and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
He said the project was initiated with a view to supporting national priorities of effective coordination and cooperation among justice sector institutions, with enhanced legal and policy frameworks as well as enhancing operational structures and capabilities in the sector and increase access to justice, respect for human rights and the rule of law, especially for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
Omofade enunciated that the project is first taking off in Lagos in order to further enhance the practice of encouraging a strategic and sustainable approach towards the justice system reform across the states, adding that it was done as a necessary means of enhancing good governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, who declared the workshop open, said the state features a justice system that encourages compliance with the rule of law, aids effective governance and improves the lives of residents.
“Aside from our traditional strongholds of civil and criminal procedure reforms, improved case management facilitation, criminal justice sector coordination, provision of free mediation services to the public and others, the state is planning.
Ipaye said the state is mindful, as a pilot state, of the need to get it right so that others can benefit from the models established.
He assured stakeholders of the state’s willingness to abide with the recommendations reached at the end of the workshop, stating that the state has been in the forefront of justice sector reforms, which have invariably percolated to other states across the country.
The commissioner, however, recognised the need for linkages with renowned training institutions all over the world through partnership, staff exchange programmes and virtual exchange fora to faciliate peer learning and fast track developmental reforms especially in the area of forensic examination as well as state counsel on a very strong conusmer protection agency to safeguard consumers.
The review and update of the action plan, according to him, is particularly timely in linking with existing efforts and activities of the state government in the protection of the rights of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.
The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, represented by Justice Toyin Ipaye, who chaired the opening session, canvassed for more actions on the parts of stakeholders to sustain the reforms already introduced and the new ones coming into the sector.
The state, she said, is poised to tackle all issues causing bottlenecks in the justice sector frontally with a view to finding solutions to them and improved justice delivery in the state.
At the end of the workshop, National Technical Adviser, Justice Sector Reforms, UNODC, Mrs. Ugonna Ezekwem, in a chat with The Nation said contributions were of better quality with the Lagos workshop than what obtained in other states that the workshop had held. “We have done action planning in Osun and Yobe States. It is better structured here, the contributions were like things that can be done. We have a very successful workshop and a very good action plan has come up,” she said. Ezekwem, however, admitted that the kind of stakeholders that attended the workshop made a difference. “Although, generally, it is the kind of stakeholders that we normally invite, all over the place we go,” she said.
Ezekwem said it was the first time the UNODC was involving the media as participants in the workshop for the action plan. “In other places, we invite the media for the opening session, they come, and they go away. But this time, they participated; they came in the aspect of the court users to represent the views of the people, who actually are not in justice sector, professionals, who use the court. On how they would ensure effective implementation of the plan that was developed, Ezekwem said what her organisation intended to do was to engage the reform committee of Lagos State and ensure that they follow up implementation.
“On our own part, for the life time of our project, we try as much as possible to implement what can be done within the ambit of our project because it is not everything there that we can do as well as supporting and advocating with the powers that be – the leadership, to ensure that they sustain the reforms and put it in the state budgets and begin to follow up and implement them,” she said.
Assessing the workshop, Director, Public Prosecution (DPP) and Coordinator Action Plans for Justice Sector Reforms in Lagos State, Mrs. Idowu Alakija, noted in the course of the workshop, that the directorate faces a lot of challenges, particularly with the police whenever cases are to be prosecuted.
“We found out that maybe we don’t have the case file; with prisons, we found out that when we are in court, we are looking for the defendants- the defendants don’t come to court. And with the Judiciary- the judiciary is divided into many parts: we have the judges, we have the magistrates, we have the customary court. There are challenges every where and we have been able to deal with every sector. Even the Ministry of Justice has challenges as well. All these were put on the table. We were able to deliberate on all these stakeholders’ problems and we have come out with an action plan for solving them and improving the justice system,” she said.
Explaining the challenges in the Justice Ministry and the plans for resolving them, she said they have created new units to aid their activities.
“In the Ministry of Justice and in the Prosecution Department, we are divided into two. We have the advisory section and we have the court going section, which are in small units. In the advisory, we have a problem before like the Police not sending the files in time. Generally, the public used to complain that the advices are not coming out in time. But thinking that the basic problem is with the office of the prosecution, but sincerely it is not,” she said.
She continued: “But now we have been able to adopt a system whereby people who are in the Advisory Unit don’t go to court. So, that way, advice is coming out faster and in this workshop, we identified that. And for the court going, the people who are going to court, they don’t do advice. They concentrate on courts. So, the challenges are whether they have witnesses or not, are the cases moving forward, did they bring the defendant to court?
“On the issue of witnesses, we also have a unit called Witness Support Unit. They make sure nobody says they can’t find the witnesses. They look for the witnesses, counsel them and make sure they come to court. On the issue of the defendants being brought to court, we deliberated extensively on that and we were able to identify the loopholes and necessary action plan.”
To ensure that the mechanism being put in place are judiciously followed and implemented, Mrs. Alakija disclosed that there are partners willing to assist the ministry with the challenges so identified.
“The basic thing is that we have been able to identify areas that we feel are our priority areas. So, with the support of our partners, we have been able to move forward because they are ready to partner with us with a view to eradicating all the challenges we are having,” she said.
