Strengthening justice delivery

“The presence of an attorney or the existence of a judicial forum do not in themselves assure that justice will be done. Providing access to justice means providing opportunity for a just and timely result” The Kaduna Multi door courthouse Practice Direction {2015}. Since the return of democracy the judiciary has played a critical role […]

“The presence of an attorney or the existence of a judicial forum do not in themselves assure that justice will be done. Providing access to justice means providing opportunity for a just and timely result” The Kaduna Multi door courthouse Practice Direction {2015}.

Since the return of democracy the judiciary has played a critical role in sustaining our young democracy by adjudicating in all election related cases from pre-election activities, election petitions and appeals arising there from, furthermore, it is a critical and compulsory partner in the fight against corruption embarked upon by the present administration, it is the judiciary that provides the needed legal framework and process to recover looted funds and prosecute erring offenders.
I remember not too long ago, the president on one of his foreign trips said the judiciary was his headache in the fight against corruption, the EFCC acting chairman at one time also accused lawyers of frustrating the anti-graft agencies effort in the war against corruption, making the public feel that the Bar and Bench are not giving the desired effort to end the scourge in our beloved country.
But truth be told, “… the failure of governments in Africa to address this issue of judicial reforms at all levels erodes public confidence in the judicial system and encourages the resort to self-help and extra-judicial means of dispute resolution..” Augustine Alegeh {SAN}, the judiciary cannot be underfunded in the change budget and yet we expect a change result.
If you ask me, our court rooms lack the structural development and necessary facilities to aid the judges and justices in the speedy dispensation of justice, we must go beyond the analogue era where judges have to take down notes of everything that transpired in court from am – pm, there should be an electronic and digital means of taking records and sending notices to parties and counsel, this would make it easier for records of proceedings to be transmitted from the court of first instance to a court with appellate jurisdiction.
According to Segun Jimoh Esq “it is not just about funds, justice delivery can only be strengthened when the change starts from the root, because no matter how much you give to the judiciary if those who ought to use the money are corrupt then it is likened to pouring water in the basket”, while I agree with my learned colleague that corruption in the judiciary is a barricade to improving service delivery in our courts, I believe that a fully computerized judicial system would go a long way in reducing the delays of procedure.
Take for instance, if the records of proceedings are electronically stored in the magistrate court, a counsel can apply to the court for the records to be transmitted via email to the appellate court, the court of first instance can now send the records via email to the counsel and the appellate court, this would take less than thirty minutes to accomplish unlike the tedious and stressful analogue way of applying and transmitting records that takes month.
Also where a court of law is not going to sit, a notice to this effect can be sent to the email addresses of all counsels appearing on the said date, court processes and hearing notices can be sent electronically to parties interested which helps in reducing cost of manual service.
If the government has its doubt on the judicious spending of allocated funds on a project like this, the number two citizen is a learned silk and professor of law, he is more than capable to oversee the complete digitalisation of every courtroom in Nigeria, we have the resources to achieve this and so money cannot be said to be the problem.
If the present administration is desirous of changing and improving justice delivery in the country, then an upgrade of our courtrooms is paramount as we cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand. Some have argued that some courts have this computer gadget and yet do not make use of it, the truth is the few courts {very few} who have this device cannot appreciate the importance of electronically storing proceedings if the people {i.e parties and counsels} do not encourage the use of it, though I would ask that the few courts who have this gadgets begin to master its use.
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