Female lawyers take up ACJA implementation on gender issues

The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria has adopted a training manual on the implementation and domestication of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) to address gender-related issues. The female lawyers converged in Abuja recently for a seminar to adopt the training manual and also train the trainers who will carry on with […]

The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria has adopted a training manual on the implementation and domestication of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) to address gender-related issues.

The female lawyers converged in Abuja recently for a seminar to adopt the training manual and also train the trainers who will carry on with the training of others in their respective states.

Chairman of the Abuja branch of FIDA, Ngozi Ikenga, said the domestication and implementation of ACJA across the country would help to curb the spate of crime; especially against women and children. She added that its domestication in all states would further block every escape route for corrupt persons.

She said FIDA came together with contribution from the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) and the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (CSLS) to sieve out issues in the ACJA that affected women and children; and that the manual was geared towards educating members on tips, guide and critical information in the ACJA that could be used to protect the rights of women and children.

One of the reviewers of the manual, Professor Adedeji Adekunle (SAN), said it was important for all stakeholders to be abreast of what was “‘doable’ now and what is ‘doable’ later in the provisions of ACJA.” He added that the manual was practical.

Professor Adekunle, who is the Director General of NIALS, said the general approach of NIALS was on how ACJA could be implemented to reduce corruption and improve the justice system as a whole.

“The manual will address gender issues by first raising awareness and by equipping lawyers, especially those that are pursuing gender rights, those that are defending women and children, by drawing their attention to some provisions and implications of these provisions so that they can look out for these circumstances anytime they are confronted with a gender-related case.

“It is first about knowledge and the will. And the way they are going about it is very scientific and methodical to have a manual as a guide and to have all the members validate it; and they will now have a train-the-trainer session that will see that the knowledge is dissipated throughout all the 34 states where they are represented,” he said.

On whether provisions of the act complement other legislations like the Childs Right Act, Professor Adekunle said it did in certain ways, and that where it did not, “This kind of exercise will determine whether there is a conflict or whether what needs to be done is to beef up the provisions of ACJA with rules so as to bring it in tandem with the Childs Right Act.”

Lilian Uche, a research fellow of NIALS and a facilitator at the workshop, while identifying some of the innovations in ACJA, said Section 6(1) of the Act now mandates that suspects must be notified of the cause of their arrest, which she said meant that the police could not just arrest people without letting them know the offence they were being arrested for except the suspect was arrested in the course of committing the offence.

She added that the Act, in Section 7, now prohibits arrest in lieu contrary to what was earlier obtainable where a relative, wife, husband or business associate could be arrested to force the appearance of the suspect. “This is seen in the ACJA as not only wrong but anti-ethical to natural justice,” she said.

Therefore, participants called for the training of the police on the new innovations of the Act to bring them on board. One of the participants, a police prosecutor, stated that the state should be ready to fund the implementation of the Act and not just apportion blame on the police.

Another issue raised by the facilitators and participants was that of women as sureties, which they said was not formerly allowed.

One of the facilitators, Ogechi Abu, in her presentation, said by the provision of Section 167 (3) of the Act, it had been expressly stated that a person shall not be denied, prevented or restricted from entering into a recognisance or standing as surety for any defendant on the ground only that the person was a woman.

While the female lawyers welcomed this provision, some expressed concern that this could be abused, and therefore called for an amendment to provide exception of spouses not to stand as sureties for each other; especially where interests could be established.

A representative of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) gave an experience of where a suspect who was accused of defiling his wife’s niece ran away when the trial was adjourned. She said the wife of the suspect who stood as a surety could not produce the suspect when trial was to recommence and the matter was subsequently struck out.

Participants agreed that the act was not a cheap law to implement, saying it required finance, time, effort, political will and total reorientation of the stakeholders and the entire citizenry for all to enjoy its intended benefits.