Perturbed by the spate of conflicting judgements emanating from the Judiciary, the Federal Government, on Tuesday, pledged to embark on a holistic reform of the justice system in the country.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, made the disclosure after he flagged off a two-day meeting of the Body of Attorneys-General (BOAG), in Abuja.
Though Fagbemi, SAN, acknowledged that complaints are mounting over recent court judgements, he, however, dismissed the insinuation that public confidence in the judiciary is at its all-time low.
Fielding questions from newsmen, the AGF, said: “Let me appreciate the fact that there has been some complaints, the extent of it is what I will not agree with. Public confidence in the judiciary is not at its all-time low.
“You see, when you have about 10 situations and you have a problem with one, the tendency of some of our people is to use that one to judge the entire situation.
“Do not forget, the Federal Ministry of Justice is also a critical stakeholder, but not the only stakeholder.
“I am not giving any excuse. All I am saying is that we will do our utmost best to holistically address all the grey areas.”
On the proposal for the separation of the office of the AGF from that of the Minister of Justice, Fagbemi, SAN, said the issue would be revisited at the right time.
“When the time comes, we will discuss it. I don’t want to give any personal views. It has been on the table for quite some time. At a time, it was rejected for reasons advanced. So, when the time comes, my colleagues and I will discuss that and bring input of people who are so well-informed and well-positioned to see what happens in other climes and see whether our situation should be different or of we should follow others,” he added.
Meanwhile, earlier in his remarks at the opening session of the meeting, the AGF decried the rising debt profiles of both the federal government and governments of all 36 states of the federation.
“I also need to comment on the increasingly rising debt profiles of Government at all levels, which pose serious danger and challenge to our national economy and existence as an independent nation.
“The Federal Ministry of Justice has, against this backdrop, initiated a collaborative framework with specialist Firms, to enable Legal Officers involved in drafting MOUs and other forms of binding Agreements acquire required skills to identify possible areas of dispute or liability, which could lead to avoidable litigation or arbitration costs and judgement debt.
“We are willing to extend the support to Legal Officers in the various States in order to strengthen their capacities in this regard.”
Continuing, he said: “As we all know, ours is a Federation founded on constitutionalism and rule of law, and our respective offices play very critical constitutional roles in enhancing its effectiveness, functionality and sustainability.
“The main agenda of this meeting therefore is on how we can regularly and effectively use the instrumentality of the platform of this Body to solve problems and frictions arising from our shared constitutional and statutory responsibilities as a Federation, particularly on critical issues for which the Federal and component States may have divergent views.
“The second issue that I need to speak on is on how we can strengthen the entire justice sector particularly the administration of criminal justice sector, in order to meet the end goals of justice and the expectations of our citizens.
“This objective is very central and key to the realisation of our mandates as Chief Law Officers within the Nigerian Federation.
“As we all know, the effectiveness and functionality of the justice system has direct effect on the overall development, stability and sustainability of any society.
“Arising from the foregoing, I urge my distinguished colleagues to ensure the full implementation of financial autonomy for the judiciary across our States as provided for under Section 121(3)&(4) of the Constitution, as a mark of our true and holistic commitment to the ideals of democracy and good governance.
“We should in this regard seek to robustly build the capacities of the judiciary, both in terms of personnel and infrastructure, particularly by investing in technologies that are necessary to automate vital aspects of our court operations and ultimately implement a digital justice delivery system.
“Distinguished colleagues, the need for improvements within our judicial and justice sector institutions and practices is non-negotiable. Access to justice goes to the very heart of what our mandate entails.
“So, we will in this regard critically look at the major policy documents that would lead us to this goal, namely the revised National Justice Policy, 2024-2028 which we hope would be considered and adopted at the National Summit on Justice.
“The FMoJ is making plans with relevant stakeholders to convene a National Summit on Justice, to among other things, engage all justice sector stakeholders to constructively look at how far we have gone in the implementation of the 2017-2022 policy document.
“We will in this regard seek to examine current challenges within justice sector institutions with the objective of supporting critical reforms, necessary to build a resilient justice system, facilitate adherence to rule of law, respect for fundamental human rights and ultimately, build public confidence in the entire justice sector.
“Next in the line of our engagements is the necessity to constructively work with the legislative arm of government. I encourage you all to actively engage the legislative arm of government in two major respects. Firstly, in the area of reform of existing laws, wherever necessary, and secondly in developing new legislations- that would address critical gaps, particularly within our justice sector institutions and beyond,” the AGF stated.
On her part, the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Beatrice Jedy-Agba, said the essence of the meeting was for AGs of the various states to interact with the AGF so as to build consensus on how the justice system could be strengthened.
“You will agree with me that the last few months have called for major interactions between stakeholders in the justice sector, in order to devise creative solutions and responses to some of the high-level challenges being faced in Nigeria today.
“These include issues relating to security, curbing the proliferation of crimes particularly as it relates to sexual and gender-based offences, plugging the gaps in our anti-corruption mechanisms and improving access to justice for citizens.
“While it is undoubted that these challenges have an extensive impact on socio-economic lives of citizens, it is my firm belief that together, we can harness creative and innovative legal responses to address these challenges and ensure sustainable development, peace, and access to justice for all,” she added.
Aside from AGs of the 36 states of the federation, equally in attendance at the meeting were Chairmen of Judiciary Committees in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, M.T. Mungono and Olusola Osoba, respectively.
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/11/controversial-judgements-well-do-our-best-to-reform-justice-sector-agf/amp/
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