CITY LAWYER AGENDA FOR JUSTICE SECTOR REFORM SERIES

Nigeria’s justice sector is beset by a myriad of challenges ranging from delay in administration of justice to heavy dockets that confront increasingly overworked judicial officers.

Other issues include lack of judicial autonomy and inadequate resources, poor investigation, overhang in the awaiting trial population and low level of adoption of technology and innovation, to name a few.

Against the backdrop of these longstanding challenges and the swearing-in of a new Attorney General and Minister of Justice, CITY LAWYER asked eminent Bar Leaders and justice sector stakeholders to plot a blueprint on the priorities to be tackled by the new Chief Law Officer.

Dr. Garba Tetengi SAN is a member of the Independent Investigative Panel (IIP) set up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to investigate allegations of human rights violations levelled against operatives of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other units of the Nigeria Police Force. He is also Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) General Purposes Committee.

He states that the Federal Government should make obedience to court orders a priority “in order to guarantee the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.”

AGF SHOULD HIRE A TEAM OF SENIOR ADVOCATES OF NIGERIA TO PROSECUTE CORRUPTION CASES

The AGF should spearhead the sponsoring of a Bill by the Executive to the National Assembly for a merger of EFCC and ICPC and any other Investigative Agency and further delete the provision that makes them a prosecuting agency. All they should do is to investigate and allow the Ministry of Justice or designated private lawyers to undertake prosecution of potential culprits. Specialization will enhance efficiency. To me that should be a priority

He should create a special team in the Ministry for prosecution of all financial and corruption cases including hiring private senior lawyers – or to be specific Senior Advocates of Nigeria – to handle these matters. Fighting corruption should be a priority. He should compliment the effort of the past administration by prioritizing the fight against corruption. The judiciary has been doing same with the existence of COTRIMCO (Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring Committee).

As a matter of priority he should impress it on the president that complying with court orders must be a priority of the administration in order to guarantee the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.

He should create or encourage synergy between the private bar and the official bar for smooth administration of Justice.

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