The president recommended a number of reforms for the justice sector in his opening speech at the 60th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Wednesday, August 26, 2020.
Buhari, represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the virtual conference, said the legal profession is crucial to the sustenance of democracy, law, and order, and must be made more effective than it currently is in a country facing daunting social and economic challenges.
He noted that the ‘terribly slow pace’ of court trials is one of the nagging problems of Nigeria’s justice administration system.
Buhari, 77, lamented about the length of his petitions against presidential elections he lost in 2003, 2007, and 2011, petitions that took 30 months, 20 months, and eight months, respectively, to conclude.
He said the situation changed when his own victory after the 2019 election was challenged and took just over six months to conclude.
The president noted that the change was prompted by time limits that were placed on election petitions, and asked that such time limits be extended to criminal and civil cases in courts.
Buhari proposed that criminal trials shouldn’t last more than 12 months, and civil cases shouldn’t last more than 15 months from the lower courts all the way to the Supreme Court.
“In the context of a competitive global economy, the speed of our legal institutions and processes must match up with the global pace of transactions.
“This has implications on our efforts to promote the ease of doing business and position Nigeria as a favoured investment destination,” he said.
The president recommended that justice delivery be further enhanced by the use of technology. He said the possibilities of virtual platforms, enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic, must be maximised in the justice sector.
Buhari also criticised the justice sector’s ‘seeming bias’ towards technical judgements that overrule ‘the clear common-sense justice’ of cases.
He warned that trials of technicalities open a door for all sorts of unsavoury speculations, and can detract from the authority of courts.
“If justice is indeed to be seen to be done, then the outcome of cases must make sense to the average person, and not just to the refined minds of a learned person alone,” he said.
Other areas of reform recommended by the president were about multiple and sometimes conflicting orders of courts which he said make a mockery of the judicial process; and an improvement of the selection process for appointment of judges.
“Reform is urgent because the fabric of our society is stitched together by our system of justice and law enforcement.
“We cannot afford to have the stitches come undone,” he warned.
The president said the fight against insecurity and the establishment of law and order requires the full cooperation of the various structures of law enforcement and administration of justice.
He said all the federal and state structures must play their parts well to keep law and order in the country.
Source: www.pulse.ng
