The slow pace of justice delivery in Nigeria has led to significant frustration, with cases often lasting for many years before resolution. Sadly, this inefficiency has prompted some litigants to resort to self-help.
In some instances, defendants serve time in custody longer than their potential sentences before their cases are concluded or when their appeals reach the Supreme Court.
It would be recalled that former President Muhammadu Buhari, at the 60th annual general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in 2020, lamented that justice administration in Nigerian courts moves at a slow pace.
Represented by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, he stressed that the fabric of our society is stitched together by our system of justice and law enforcement.
Why can’t we have timeliness in all our cases? Why can’t we put in place the rules that will state that a criminal trial in the Supreme Court must not exceed 12 months in duration?
The Constitution did not state the timeline within which defendants ought to be tried: Section 36(4) states that “Whenever any person is charged with a criminal offence, he shall, unless the charge is withdrawn, be entitled to a fair hearing in public within a reasonable time by a court or tribunal.”
This lack of a specific time for adjudication of cases remains a bane of our criminal justice system, which has not been helped by the growing number of cases in the courts across the country.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, on October 15, 2024, expressed concerns over the increase in the number of pending cases in superior courts across the country.
Speaking during the 3rd Annual National Judicial Council (NJC) Conference on Judges’ Performance Evaluation, the CJN stated, “We must be deeply concerned by the increase in the number of pending cases and low disposition rate.”
As of the first quarter of 2024, we had a total of 243,253 cases pending in our superior courts of record, exclusive of the Supreme Court.
There are a total of 199,747 civil cases and 43,506 criminal cases,” she said.
THE WHISTLER spoke with lawyers on the slow dispensation of justice. Victor Okoye said the huge number of cases received by the courts slows down the pace of the court.
He also blamed litigants and their counsel for the delays, noting that they sometimes deliberately frustrate a case while seeking unnecessary adjournments.
He said, “So many factors are involved; apart from the court that will adjudicate the matter, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 has provided that criminal trials should be held daily, but what matters is how practicable it is.
“There are so many cases in the dockets of the court. In the office of the police, where I work, we have a lot of cases, and during these cases, we have a presentation of evidence. You then talk about the witnesses and their willingness to testify before the court.
“Sometimes when the case commences, your witnesses will be very willing to testify; however, some of them start losing interest and start complaining of coming from a far location. So many things begin to hamper the case. Then the prosecutor himself sometimes has up to five cases in different courts.
“So, when all these things are rearing their heads, the issue of adjournment becomes imminent and unavoidable. These adjournments will now be subject to the convenience of the court.
“Sometimes the court will be willing to give a short date, but then a defense counsel or prosecutor will say he has a case on that date, and then an adjournment is made to another longer date. Sometimes they say the defendant is sick, present a medical report, or the judge might be on official assignment or vacation can come in.
“Now, once that break is over, you start talking of a date, which might be in the next year, and it continues. It is the wish of every prosecutor that cases are adjudicated speedily, but numerous factors can affect it.
“Another reason can be where a counsel did not come to the court prepared; they now tell the other counsel to provide them with the document to rely on to prove their case, something they could have applied for,” he stated.
Okoye thanked the ACJC for ensuring speedy trials but said more can still be done, especially on rules guiding cases with multiple defendants or respondents.
“The ACJC has done so well to ensure accelerated hearings of criminal matters, but I think the court can do more. For instance, in a case where there are too many defendants, the court may relax their rules to make it so that when some defendants are not present but are represented by counsel, the trial should proceed as it is still the counsel that will argue the case.
“Currently, we have a charge before the court with 109 foreigners. I wasn’t surprised that we went to court last week, and the case couldn’t go on because nine of them were absent. I never expected that any day would come when we would be present and 109 of them would be in court, sincerely speaking.
“So, the case has been adjourned to May, after the Easter break. By the time we come in May and one of them falls sick, the case won’t go on again. At the end of the day, you see it is not nearly getting concluded this year. So, if the court can make rules on this, it will probably help.
“The court can also award serious costs against any party that deliberately delays the hearing of the matter. They can even make a rule that if a defendant fails to appear two times, the prosecution can make an application for him to be tried in absentia, the lawyer said.
Also speaking to THE WHISTLER, another legal practitioner, Abdullahi A. Muhammed, said the government and its agencies can deliberately delay cases filed by them.
“When the complainant is the government or agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Commissioner of Police or the Inspector-General of Police, sometimes we get delays from them.
“Sometimes we get delays from the counsel of the defendants, especially when the defendants are more than one. Usually, they do not want to operate with one lawyer, as our constitution gives them the right to engage a lawyer of their choice.
“We equally get delays from the court because they are also human beings; sometimes they do not sit, so when they give you a date, they give like two or three months because they have other matters. All these take time, and that is why criminal matters keep lingering,” he said.
Muhammed highlighted the difference in the ACJA Act in some states, making it difficult to interpret and apply these rules universally. He called for a unification of the law to ensure faster justice delivery.
“The rules of the court are universal, but the Administration of Criminal Justice Act is called law in some states, and they are not the same thing. The sections in Abuja are different from the sections in the states. So, there are many positions with the law to make it faster and for justice to be done.
“When you have more than one defendant, let’s say three, the three of them will write to one complainant, and the complainant will have to react to all of them individually. So, you see, he gives an excuse for one thing or another. Then another date is taken.
“Civil matters do not usually take long because the rules of the court on civil matters, if respected, shouldn’t stay longer than they do in criminal matters. If a defendant does not come to court, the defendant has three opportunities to attend.
“Honestly, the court is trying to cover all these things by giving the defendant time to file his case, and if they fail, the court awards costs against the defendants,” Muhammed stated.
How Courts Can Stop Justice Delivery Delays In Nigeria is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Source: The Whistler
