The United Nations’ Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) has held workshops for workers in the judiciary.
It is in line with its objective to ensure a reformed and effective justice delivery system.
Two of such workshops, under the “Support to justice sector in Nigeria” project, with funding from the European Union (EU), were held in Lagos.
One was for information officers in justice sector institutions. They included the courts, ministries of justice, Nigerian Prisons Service and the police. The other was a training programme to build the competence and skills of justice sector officials in the use of computer and related information and communication technology (ICT).
During the workshop for information officers, which held for two days, participants were trained on various components of information dissemination in justice sector institutions and how best to effectively disseminate information.
Facilitators included the Project Coordinator, Ade Omofade; National Information Officer, United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Lagos, Oluseyi Soremekun; UNODC’s Outreach and Communications Officer, James Ayodele; Communications expert, Kaneng Rwang-Pamand Head of Department and Coordinator, Akinola Aguda School of Post Graduate Studies, Nigerian Institute of Advance Legal Studies (NIALS), Mrs. Comfort Chinyere Ani.
Omofade explained that the project, with a € 26,000,000 funding from the EU, began in last year and is meant to last 42 months.
He said the objective of the project, meant to cover the federal justice sector institutions and similar institutions in 10 states – Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Federal Capital Territory, Imo, Osun, Katsina, Lagos and Yobe, was to strengthened the rule of law through enhanced accountability, accessibility, transparency and fairness of the justice system.
Omofade said the project has so far achieved increased justice sector coordination / policy development; development of operational capability; training and research capacity of justice sector and enhanced access to justice and respect for human rights.
Mrs. Pam advocated a coordinated relation among information managers in justice sector institutions and stressed the need for vibrant and symbiotic relationship between justice sector’s information managers and the media.
She noted that the media play an integral and vital role in all aspects of justice, including funding, adding that the media is the first to define events (agenda setting) and inform the public, thus heightening awareness.
Ayodele stressed the need for the justice sector spokespersons to always be involved in raising awareness about the activities of their sector with the intention of influencing public attitude, behavior and belief towards the achievement of a defined purpose or goal.
Soremekun, who noted the waning public confidence in the nation’s justice sector, argued that the task of raising community confidence in the justice system was not the exclusive responsibility of the Information Officers in the Ministry of Justice.
According to him, it is the responsibility of all information managers in the agencies that form components of the justice system. He urged information officers to” liaise effectively with the media colleagues covering their organisations.”
Mrs Ani, who noted that access to justice was an essential appendage of the rule of law and the fulfillment of the vindication of the right of the citizen, said easy access to the court requires a wide range of steps, which include amending some existing legislations; review and modernisation of court process; the police force and prisons service.
“The aim is to build up respect for the rule of law and due process among stakeholders in the administration of justice and buttress their roles as protectors of those rights, which will ultimately engender unhindered access to justice,” she said.
Mrs Ani suggested the general adoption of the various alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures in view of the many benefits of the ADR over the conventional court process with its attendant technicalities and delays.
”The alien nature of the legal system; the attendant inherent delays; the public’s unfamiliarity with the nature of litigation process; the technical nature of law and its procedure are factors making ADR a better option for litigants. Lawyers and litigants have to be well sensitised to embrace this new process, which is actually a return to our traditional African dispute resolution method
“A strong, courageous, independent and incorruptible judiciary is indispensable for the people to have confidence in the justice system, thereby shun self-help or jungle justice,” Mrs Ani said.
For training on ICT usage, three of the project’s ten focal states – were trained. They were 100 participants with 30 from Bayelsa, 32 from Benue and 38 from Cross River States.
The participants included investigators, prosecutors, administrative staff of the judiciary and the Ministry of Justice, as well as police and prison officers. Each training session lasted five days and participants learnt, among others, how to use the computer to create, organise and store documents, prepare and make presentations, surf the internet, manage basic data, and access the social media.
The Training Consultant, Olatunji Komolafe said 10 of the trainees, who had never used a computer before, were able to use the device to perform basic administrative tasks at the end of the training.
“Despite the short period of the training, feedback from the trainees shows that all of them are now computer literate and can use the device to perform various tasks at work and at home,” he said.
Most participants at the workshops expressed delight and praised UNODC for the initiative. They sought more of such opportunities.
