On February 1, the Lagos State Government inaugurated Special Courts for Corruption and Sexual Offences for speedy justice dispensation. Lawyers suggest what must be done for the courts to be efficient and effective, ADEBISI ONANUGA reports
Lagos State judiciary has added to its lists of firsts with the inauguration of the Special Courts for Corruption and Financial Crimes and Sexual Offences.
The inauguration, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria, occurred at the Rosaline Omotoso Courthouse on February 1.
It followed a directive of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, to heads of courts to dedicate some courts for corruption and economic crime cases to ensure speedy dispensation of justice.
For now, four courts have been designated as Special Courts. Two will adjudicate on corruption and other economic and financial crimes while the others will try sexual offences.
The epoch-making event attracted stakeholders including wife of the Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo; wife of the state governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode; the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Lagos division, Justice M. I. Garba who represented the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa; acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu; the Solicitor-General, Mrs Funlola Odunlami, who represented the Attorney-General, Adeniji Kazeem; member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mrs Funmilayo Tejuosho who represented the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, among others.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode promised that the courts would facilitate expeditious hearing and trial of sexual and financial related crimes.
Ambode, represented by Deputy Governor Oluranti Adebule, said Lagos was collaborating with the British Council under the Rule of Law Anti-Corruption Programme to provide technical support for the anti-corruption fight.
He said: “I am particularly glad about the designation of two courts to handle sexual related offences as it complements our fight against sexual abuse. These sexual offences courts will have trained and experienced prosecutors to interact with survivors, provide support and ensure timely prosecution of the cases.”
The governor disclosed that since 2015, the Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) and Mirabel Centre have handled over 400 cases of sexual offences, while 376 cases are being prosecuted in the various courts.
He said: “With a dedicated court now in place to handle these cases, l am sure that these cases will get the attention they deserve.
“These courts are an indication of our commitment to making Lagos uncomfortable for perpetrators of such offences and our judiciary, that has always led the vanguard at combating crimes in its own way, is resolved to discouraged same”.
Road to special courts
According to Lagos Chief Judge, Justice Opeyemi Oke, the journey towards establishing the special courts started in June 2017.
She recalled that last year, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) announced plans by the Federal Government to designate specific courts to handle corruption cases.
Oke said: “He said that the courts would be part of a general judicial reform to make the judiciary more efficient and to facilitate the determination of corruption and financial crime cases.
“Soon thereafter, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Walter Onnoghen during the conferment of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria to 29 senior lawyers in Abuja in September 2017, announced major reforms in the criminal justice system”.
As part of the reforms, Justice Oke said Mr. Onnoghen directed that all Heads of Court to clampdown on lawyers in the habit of deploying delay tactics in criminal matters before them.
To effectively monitor and enforce the new policy, she said the CJN announced that an Anti-corruption Cases Trial Monitoring Committee would be set up by the National Judicial Council (NJC).
“The Chief Justice of Nigeria stated that the Committee would, among other responsibilities, ensure that both the trial and appellate courts handling corruption and financial cases key into and abide by the renewing effort of ridding our country of the cankerworm,.
“At present, there are over 500 cases of financial crimes and 600 sexual offences cases pending before the high courts in the state, the bulk of which have now been assigned to the Special Offences Courts.”
Justice Oke said her administration has commenced a campaign against corruption in the courts and among supporting staff in the Lagos State Judiciary and that all hands are on deck to see an end to the cankerworm that has eaten deeply into the fabric of justice delivery system.
“We believe strongly that the special courts shall fast track the trial of these types of cases and encourage the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other relevant bodies to expedite the investigation and prosecution of such cases”, she said.
Justice Oke quoted an article entitled: ‘’A five year analysis of police record on sexual related offences in Lagos State,’ by Gbemileke O. Oladipo, on the statistics of sexual offences in Lagos from 1999 to 2014.’’
According to her, “a total of 691 sexual offences were reported during the period. Rape accounted for 40.1 percent of the offences, 44 percent of the crimes were committed at the perpetrators houses.
“Virtually in all, 98.4 percent were females whose ages ranged from four to 56 years. 42 percent of victims were mostly neighbours to the perpetrators. Most of the cases (76.6 per cent) were withdrawn, 12.8 percent were under investigation while the status of 8.5 percent were unknown since 2004.”
Justice Oke described sexual harassment and violence as serious threats and grave danger to women and children all over the world and a crime that has become an epidemic.
Mrs. Osinbajo, who commended the state for the initiative, was, however, shocked at the statistics of sexual assaults.
She said: ‘The statistics quoted by the Chief Justice of Lagos is very frightening, it only speaks of half of the true picture. Behind the figures are the faces of the affected women and girls as well as the men and boys.”
Mrs Osinbajo, who gave an account of a real life scenarios of sexual violence, said the victims of such offences should never be ignored.
“We should not ignore the trauma and nightmare that sexual offences bring, let us not forget the girls not only in Nigeria but all over the world”, she said.
Mrs Funlola Odunlami, the Solicitor-General of Lagos, lauded the state for being the first to implement the CJN’s initiative.
“We have to make sure that in Lagos State perpetrators of sexual crimes no longer exist. In the Ministry of Justice, there is a particular department with lawyers which is set aside to handle sexual crimes and to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice,” Odunlami said.
She added: “Lagos leads and other states follow. Governor Ambode is very passionate about issues relating to domestic and sexual violence; he led the walk `Say No to Domestic and Sexual Violence’ and he is passionate about the work of the DSVRT”.
Magu, who spoke with journalists after the event, warned corrupt people to be wary of the long arm of justice, saying that “corruption will be fought like never before this year”.
Magu urged Nigerians to join hands with the Commission in its ongoing fight against corruption, adding that it is the responsibility of everyone to make the country a better place to live in.
He added that it was imperative for other states of the federation to toe the same line, as directed by the CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen.
Lawyers react
Lawyers commended the establishment of the courts but cautioned that certain things must not be overlooked to ensure efficient and effective justice delivery.
Those who spoke include Mr Babatunde Fashanu (SAN), Vice President , Nigerian Bar Association, Monday Ubani; a member of the Ogun State Judicial Service Commission, Abayomi Omoyinmi and a former Welfare Secretary, of Ikeja Branch of the NBA, Mr Samson Omodara.
To Fasahanu, the inauguration was cheery news.
He said: “First, it shows that the Judiciary is not taking the Chief Justice of the Federation’s directive late last year to that effect as a joke and Lagos State, in particular, hearkens first to the call. It signals a good day for all who genuinely want the fight against corruption and sex abuses to take root and succeed”.
He suggested that certain things must be in place to make the new initiative work.
Fashanu said: “Lagos State is already known to have improved the conditions of service of judges tremendously and provided modern materials conducive to speedy dispensation of justice like electronic recording. However, even though every judge is expected to be above board, only judges proven to be hard-working and of impeccable character should be assigned to those courts.
“There are judges in the Lagos State judiciary who are known for their zero tolerance to laziness or tardiness by lawyers or prosecutors and who cannot be influenced in any way. It will also help if the judges have some experience in the adjudication, prosecution or defence of criminal cases. Those are the judges needed for those courts”.
The learned silk, however, pointed out that ‘’the creation of the special courts can only aid the speedy dispensation of cases in those offences, it does not guarantee conviction and punishment of persons charged before those courts. The rest of the work lies with the investigating and prosecuting agencies who need to up their efficiency and ensure thorough investigation of cases before being charged to court to scale the bar laid down by law”.
Ubani acknowledged the delay in the administration of justice system, especially criminal justice system in Nigeria and the fact that over time, egg heads have come up with several solutions and one of which is the creation of special court system for specialised offences like corruption, sexual offences etc.
“If you will recall that we had undue delays in electoral matters in our court system which necessitated the creation of specialised court for it, and not only creating courts, the laws were amended to set out timelines within which hearings and proceedings were allowed.
“Today, we can beat our chest and boast that we have achieved some measure of quick resolution of electoral cases whenever elections are concluded. We may not have recorded hundred percent efficiency and effectiveness with the creation of special court over electoral matters but I think we can see more level of success and quick disposal of cases due to the fact of specialisation on that area.
“The truth of the matter is that we should seek ways to facilitate quicker dispensation of justice especially in our criminal justice system that suffers long delays.
“We must not only tow this line but ensure that we back it up with substantive laws and proper supervision and monitoring to ensure success. Creation of special courts with no adequate facilities, infrastructures, welfare packages, supervision, monitoring and reforms in areas that deserve it will be a colossal waste of time and resources”, he stated.
“We applaud the innovation and advise that those judges and administrators who are designated to these specialised courts must try to understand the enormity of their responsibility and ensure the success of the policy. We as responsible citizens must support the move and do a follow up constantly to ensure that the real reasons for this creation are achieved.”
Omoyinmi remarked that his impression of both special courts on corruption and sexual offences is a welcome development and very well overdue in view of the creation of more government agencies in the recent time by law to deal with criminal offences aside from the police.
According to him, a review of our criminal procedure rules is important, in order to have an up to date standard rules that conform with the reality on ground affecting our criminal practice in Nigeria.
“Specifically judges should be appointed to only adjudicate on criminal matters, The special courts will be likened to what is today known as the Old Bailey and or the Crown Courts in the UK where only criminal matters are adjudicated upon to the exclusion of any other courts, even up to the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). Appointments of more judges and creation of more special corruption and special offences courts will ultimately among others is the best way to ensure quick, effective and efficient judicial delivery system in criminal matters.
Omodara emphasised the need for attitudinal change for special courts to be effective in achieving set objectives.
He said: “Without sounding pessimistic, creation of special Courts may not be effective save attitudinal change by all involved. All stakeholders must be ready or compelled to work assiduously to ensure justice delivery to all viz, the state, defendant and the victim.”
