Tag: Umeadi

Chief Judge of Anambra State, Justice Peter N.C Umeadi, has said the state Rules of Court have become obsolete, hence the urgent need for their review.

Justice Umeadi, who stated this while speaking at the just concluded two-day summit, organised by the state Judiciary for the review of the court rules, said: “The rules of courts have become obsolete, which necessitated the setting up of various review committees to look into them and come up with draft documents that would be subjected to public  scrutiny before being adopted as rules of procedure for all courts in the state.”

The Chief Judge listed the rules to be reviewed to include the High Court Rules (2006), Anambra State Magistrate Court Rules (1991) and the Rules Establishing the Anambra State Multi-Door Court House.

He said the review followed  the recommendations of the various committees set up to review these laws. “The dynamism of the law does not allow its rules of practice to be latent,” Umeadi said.

He explained that participants at the summit had the opportunity to make comments and suggestions in areas they do not agree with the recommendations of the committees “all of which will be reflected in the final draft that would ultimately become the rules of procedure for courts in Anambra State”.

Anambra State governor, Chief Willie Obiano said the synergy between the Executive and Judicial arm of government in the state has led to many landmark changes in the system of justice administration as well as the working condition of judicial officers in the state.

The Governor, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu, appreciated the Chief Judge, for kick-starting the process that has led to a total overhaul of the rules governing civil procedure of various cadres of courts in the area.

The  two-day public summit urged stakeholders in the justice sector to evolve acceptable rules of proceedings that would ensure the efficient and effective functioning of courts in the area.

Participants, cutting across all public strata, from the bar, academia, stakeholders and other groups in the state justice system engaged in robust debate on what seemed like a clause-by-clause consideration of the proposed new set rules of courts.

Some of the key areas that engaged their attention were issues of enhanced court fees, summary trials, granting of adjournments, probate matters, preliminary objections, pre-trial conferences, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms, enforcement of  ADR awards, use of modern technology  in litigation process etc.

One of the resource persons, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Arthur Obi-Okafor, made a strong case for synergy between the regular courts and the multi-door courts, to ensure that judicial officers at various levels are bound to enforce the ADR decisions reached at the Multi-Door Court House.

Chief Obi-Okafor advocated for the inclusion of a clause in the new high court rules that will “empower judges to enforce the outcome of proceedings of multi-door court house, insofar as the multi-door court proceedings conform to the acceptable rules of conduct”.

Addressing newsmen at the end of the summit, Planning Committee Chairman, Justice Ngozi Oyeka, assured that all the views expressed by members of the public would be collated and put into a working document that would form part of the new rules for civil proceedings in the state.