A two-day National Summit on Justice 2024 has ended in Abuja with the adoption of a revised National Policy on Justice 2024 to 2028 and it’s recommendations are to be forwarded to the National Assembly.
The revised National Policy on Justice outlines a roadmap for significant reforms in Nigeria’s justice sector for effective administration of justice.
The chairman of the planning committee of the Summit, titled “Repositioning the Justice system: Constitutional, Statutory and Operational Reforms for Access and Efficiency,” Dr. Babatunde Ajibade (SAN) disclosed this on Friday in Abuja, while presenting the communique to the Newsmen at the Federal Ministry Justice on Friday.
Ajibade said the National Policy on Justice 2024 to 2028 will serve as a roadmap, paving the way for a more efficient, equitable and responsive justice system for all Nigerians.
Ajibade, who gave highlights on panel discussions at the various technical sessions said, the Summit narrowed down its discussions on reforms of the judicial sector of the country.
He said, the first priority area discussed at the technical sessions was the judicial appointment process, this, he said was because, the Summit believed that the issue is a fundamental matter that needs to be adequately addressed if the country must get it right.
He said, “Because, if we don’t get the judicial appointment right, it will be difficult to build anything significant on top of that”.
Another area that panelists at the technical session during the Summit looked at, was the area of funding adding that, “If we don’t get the funding and budget administration of the courts right, it will be difficult to get the courts to function effectively.
“The third priority area is the eradication of the delay in the administration of justice in the country. If you don’t get the right judicial officers, if they are not properly funded, if they are no sufficient number of them, if the administration of the courts is not proper, there is no way, you can get efficient and quick justice delivery, which the constitution promises”, the senior lawyer stated.
Answering questions from newsmen at the end of the briefing, Dr Ajibade said, the issue of unbundling of the Supreme Court was not one of the priority areas discussed at the summit but that, “We are looking at reducing the workload of the Supreme Court by limiting the number of cases that come up to the Supreme Court”.
While noting that the country’s apex court is one of the busiest Supreme Courts in the world with cases between landlords and tenants going up to it.
“The Supreme Court is too busy, our focus is not unbundling the Supreme Court but reducing the workload and making sure that the court perform its true role as the apex court in the land”, he said and added that, the participation of all stakeholders required to make the necessary changes gives the hope for the desired reforms of the Judiciary of the country.
He said the recommendations of the summit would be forwarded to the National Assembly to be incorporated in the proposed Constitutional Amendment.
According to Ajibade, the current AGF and Minister of Justice Fagbemi, SAN, has every intention to pursue the reform initiatives of the Judiciary to a logical conclusion within the shortest possible time.
At the opening ceremony of the summit on Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and Fagbemi expressed the determination of the present administration to give a fresh direction to the justice sector in the country through a holistic overhaul of the sector.
The president Tinubu, represented by the Vice President, Alhaji Kashim Shettima said the administration is committed to ensuring a just society that would support and encourage investments.
The president therefore directed all Justice sector institutions to cue into the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government which is targeted at repositioning and strengthening the justice sector to enhance access, transparency, accountability, fairness, and efficiency.
Akpabio, on his part, recommended prompt and decisive punishment for Judges found to have mis-used judicial powers in granting ex-parte orders in political matters.
He called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to exercises stringent oversight on the activities of Judges, adding that, the Senate wants the NJC to establish clear and detailed standards governing the issuance of ex-parte orders, accompanied by a defined set of sanctions for violations.