By Ebere Agozie, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
By many accounts, justice sector reforms, if properly harnessed, can be a veritable driver of justice delivery as justice delayed, they say, is justice denied.
Stakeholders are agreed that efficient justice delivery is central to the nation’s economic growth and development, and some have called for an independent judiciary, properly so called.
Legal experts say that justice is administration of what is just that is done through impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments.
They equally agree that the backlog of cases at different levels that overwhelm the justice delivery system seems to hamper the principle of rule of law.
Nigerians have not hidden their desire for holistic justice sector reform to restore public confidence and trust in the sector and the rule of law.
The judicial system, therefore, experiences increasing demands for an improved institutional capacity to deliver effective justice.
This demand presents a significant challenge as it reflects yawning gaps in the country’s capacity to deliver an efficient and responsive justice system to respond to the 21st century developments in the global justice system.
The justice sector, which is supposed to be the last hope of the common man, is squeaking under the weight of a heavy caseload and a myriad of problems.
This, perhaps, informed the decision of the Federal Ministry of Justice to organise a national summit on justice sector reform.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mohammed Ndarani, says the reforms with their guidelines will alleviate delays in justice delivery in the country.
“There are a million and more cases begging to be tried, there are thousands of Nigerians seeking justice, there are hundreds of thousands of litigations lying moribund in courts.
“If you attend court sittings, you will find cause lists hosting 20 cases in a day. How do you expect the judges to put in their best and expeditiously decide these cases in record time?
“It is impracticable, and the resultant effect has always been the delay in passing judgments and justice delayed is justice denied”.
The senior lawyer said that there are situations where the duration taken to try some cases is even more than the punishment to be imposed for such crimes.
“This is the helplessness of the Nigerian justice system, and you cannot possibly blame the judges because they have been doing their best”.
He equally canvassed the need for an independent and corruption-free Judiciary, to boost justice delivery.
“There is the need for a strong and independent judiciary, where court decisions are transparent, fair, and timely, and adhere to internationally recognised norms, to enhance peace and unity in the country.
“Corruption impedes development and efficient justice delivery in any society, which negatively impacts the social well-being of the people.
“All stakeholders must work together harmoniously to eradicate corruption and corrupt practices from the judiciary sector,’’ he said.
In a related development, Mrs Beatrice Jeddy-Agba, the Solicitor-General of the Federation has called on stakeholders to speak with one voice against all forms of torture in Nigeria.
Jeddy-Agba, speaking on victims of torture acknowledged the tireless efforts of stakeholders who have made sacrifices to ensure Nigeria complies with UN Convention Against Torture and other forms of Inhuman treatment.
She urged both the public and private sectors to speak with one voice against the perpetrators of torture, and for all who suffer at their hands, in order to build a better, more humane society for Nigerians.
“Nigeria has continued to demonstrate its commitment to the ideals of respect for human rights, particularly the prevention of torture and other inhuman degrading treatments against citizens.
“Stakeholders must continue to express solidarity with the sufferings of victims and their families and to reaffirm the need for a global commitment to rehabilitate victims of all such abuse.
“We are committed to advocating, training and sensitising our law enforcement agencies, hospitals, psychiatric wards and other places of limited liberty, on the need to ensure respect for human rights’’.
She encouraged the law enforcement agencies to continue to support measures aimed at combating torture in all their detention centers.
Jedy-Agba also noted that the federal government has thrown its weight behind stakeholders’ calls for the establishment of Restorative Justice Centres in the country.
She acknowledged that the criminal justice system faces tremendous challenges, ranging from recidivism, prolonged duration for trials, overcrowded custodial centres and the failure of punishment for offences to meet with standards of justice for the victims and survivors of crime.
She said that these centres will run as forms of alternative dispute resolution and will be deployed as tools for decongesting many of the less serious cases in the docket of the courts.
“This will invariably decrease the overcrowded correctional centres and will receive referrals from the police, courts and prosecutors to settle some criminal matters amicably.
“These challenges are addressed through restorative justice mechanisms, with the overall objective of improving the criminal justice system.
“Restorative justice is an evolving approach to justice that seeks to repair harm by providing an opportunity for those harmed and the perpetrators to communicate and address needs in the aftermath of a crime.
“It gives offenders an opportunity to make amends and to try to correct some of their wrongs and hurt which they may have caused to their victims.
“It is also an innovative approach that has been known to reduce re-offending rates by making the offenders face the consequences of their action.
“Victims are empowered to participate more fully than in the traditional system, and the community also has an important role to play by establishing standards of conduct and helping to provide support to the parties involved’’.
She noted that while the traditional criminal justice process solely focuses on punishment for the offender, restorative justice focuses on victims and survivors who have been harmed by the conduct of the offender.
She, therefore, called for support for government policies towards reforming the criminal justice system, through developing restorative justice mechanisms.
For his part, Dr Tony Ojukwu, the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission said Nigerians should reflect on the plight of victims of torture and how to eliminate torture.
“We must always speak against this abhorrent violation of human rights that has left protracted and profound scars on families, individuals, and communities.
“This is another opportunity to call for the strengthening of national efforts and mechanisms towards preventing torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.
