Developing legal aid strategy for poor Nigerians

The Legal Aid Council was created by the Legal Aid Act of 1976 to give effect to the Nigerian constitutional provision which in Section 46 (4) (b) mandates a legal scheme in Nigeria. The 1976 Act has now been replaced by Legal Aid Act 2011. The 2011 Legal Aid Act has expanded the scope of […]

The Legal Aid Council was created by the Legal Aid Act of 1976 to give effect to the Nigerian constitutional provision which in Section 46 (4) (b) mandates a legal scheme in Nigeria. The 1976 Act has now been replaced by Legal Aid Act 2011. The 2011 Legal Aid Act has expanded the scope of the previous statutory mandate of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON).
In order to ensure access to legal aid for the indigent and vulnerable groups in Nigeria, penultimate week, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in collaboration with the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON) and with funding from the European Union organised a three- day technical workshop in Lagos.
The workshop was aimed at developing a five-year National Strategy for Legal Aid delivery in Nigeria and also discussing and agreeing on practical and achievable ways for effective legal aid delivery in the country.
According to the Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Mariam Sissoko, the need for a National Strategy on Legal Aid cannot be over-emphasised as it provides a roadmap for ensuring and monitoring that legal aid services are delivered to the neediest in the society.
She said the European Union (EU) and the government of Nigeria have entrusted UNODC with the responsibility of implementing Project NGA V18 “Support to the Justice Sector in Nigeria” and the project which is funded by the EU is implemented at the federal level and 10 focal states of the country.
The states are 10 focal states: Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, FCT, Imo, Osun, Yobe, Katsina, Lagos, and Cross River.
The country representative who was represented at the workshop by the Project Coordinator, Justice Sector Reform of the organisation, Mr Ade Omofade,  said the workshop is in furtherance of the implementation of the project, adding that the five year National Strategic Plan falls into the jurisdiction of the  UNODC Justice Project, which is about ensuring the protection of the rights of the most vulnerable groups in society.
She said UNODC will be supporting the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON) in a number of other key activities such as training in IT and new areas in the legal sector, mapping of legal aid providers, ADR, the upcoming conference on mental health, and paralegals to enhance its capacity to deliver and ensure justice is made available to the most vulnerable members of the society.
She said one of the major outcomes of the particular project is ensuring the protection of the rights of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups and this can only be achieved if those groups have confidence that they will have the same access to justice than the more privileged, adding that an effective mechanism for legal aid service delivery bridges this gap.
Earlier, Director General of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON), Mrs Joy Bob-Manuel, said the Legal Aid Act 2011 has taken a radical approach in addressing the needs of teeming indigent Nigerians by widening the scope of offences and matters covered by legal aid and introducing community legal aid service among others.
She said the council is now better equipped to deliver on ensuring the rights of women to access legal aid and establishing a child sensitive legal aid system.
The LACON boss said the insecurity in some parts of the country particularly the North East has affected the number of lawyers offering legal aid in such states resulting in Yobe having none at the moment, Borno having only one while Bauchi has two lawyers. However, some states have high concentration of lawyers like Kaduna and Lagos which have 13 and 20 lawyers respectively.
Bob-Manuel said the council lacks capacity to represent all awaiting trial persons in Nigeria and some private legal practitioners who wish to partner with the council in decongesting prisons require a minimum sum for transport and court process which have so far not been appropriated by the government for the council.
She said the National Strategy on Legal Aid must be one that “we all will be proud of and should start with mapping of all legal aid providers in Nigeria who should collaborate and synergise for effective service delivery.”
She urged all participants to look at what  was provided for by the Legal Aid Act 2011 which include Mapping Report, Paralegal Scheme and Police Duty Solicitor Scheme.
She said the Prison Decongestion Initiative is the organisation’s core mandate but that they lack capacity to represent all awaiting trial persons in Nigeria.
“We have a lot of private legal practitioners who wish to partner with us to decongest the prisons but need to be paid a minimum sum for transport and court processes. This is where the Legal Aid fund is important. Because no money has so far been appropriated by the government for the council to effectively tackle this problem,” she said.
Chairman, Governing Board of the Legal Aid Council, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde, who was represented by Barrister  Okey Akobundu,  said legal aid is about expediting justice for everyone and the council cannot do it all alone, adding that it needs to enter into partnerships with other agencies, groups or persons of similar interests to enhance access to justice irrespective of whether these partners are of the legal profession  or not.
There were presentations by various stakeholders at the workshop and interactive sessions involving discussions, contribution and questions. In additions there was group work from different perspectives of Development Partners, Civil Society Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations, and the Legal aid Council of Nigeria (LACON).
In her presentation on the topic, “Towards Developing a Five Year Strategic Plan for Legal Aid Service delivery in Nigeria”  Executive Director, PRAWA,  Dr  Uju Agomoh, said the strategic plans need to be based on the strategic framework already provided by the Legal Aid Act 2011 and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended) Section 46.
She said the effective implementation of the Legal Aid Act 2011 strategically repositions the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria as the institution tasked with enhancement and coordination of legal aid services in Nigeria and not merely a provider of legal aid service in the country.
She said five years is too short a time to achieve all that needs to be achieved, noting, however, that it is important to take the tasks in small bits -mid-year plan, annual plans, five years plan etc.
“This is the reason why we need to focus on synergy building, coordination, partnership and sustainability of interventions,” she added.
Dr Mohammed Auwal Umar in his presentation, “Towards Developing a Five-Year Strategic Plan for Legal Aid Service Delivery” said there is a resource responsibility gap with so much to do and not enough resources.
Also commenting on the topic, Ms. Venice Guthrie of the United Nations Children’s Fund  (UNICEF) advised that paralegal scheme is still relevant even though it is prone to abuse by a few and cited cases of  Rwanda and Tanzania where paralegals are used to educate the communities on issues of inheritance of property and education of women and children.
She also said litigating high profile public interest cases will serve as a practical way to educate the public on their rights and at the same time discourage future perpetrators, as well as highlight the activities of the council due to the high public exposure such cases attract, adding that with the security challenges presently in the North East, how LACON is going to cope needs to be included in the strategic plan.
Executive Director of the Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC), Dr. Oby Nwankwo, in her presentation on “Community Based Approach For Legal Aid” said that a Community Paralegal (CP) is one trained to perform substantial legal work similar to that of a lawyer except for court representation and litigation and that CPs benefit the community by providing instant access to justice.
Highlight of the workshop was the constitution of a seven member technical committee on the development of the National Legal Aid Strategy on Thursday 31 July to among others review and harmonise the report of the 1st strategic planning meeting on development of the five-year National Legal Aid Strategy for Nigeria which is to submit same to the Director General of LACON for onward submission to the LACON Governing Board on or before 5th September 2014.
There were representatives from the Federal Ministry of Justice, Justice for All (J4A), National Planning Commission (NPC), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) among others at the workshop.