By Jude-Ken Ojinnaka
The Convener of the Citizen’s Support for Lower Court, Mr Bayo Akinlade has faulted, the recent introduction of payment for virtual proceedings in the Lagos judiciary, describing it as an unacceptable development.
Akinlade posited that with the current economic situation/ hardship across the land, monetising virtual proceedings would be a pain rather than a gain for judicial stakeholders
Recall that the Lagos State judiciary recently announced the payment of N30,000 fee per session for all remote or virtual court proceedings across the state, effective April 1.
The circular conveying the message provided that all applications for virtual hearings must be made to the court hearing the matter, adding that payment shall be made upon approval to the court.
Reacting to this recent development by the state judiciary, Akinlade noted that it would have been more instructive for the judiciary to focus on improving efficiency of the virtual process, than a monetisation of same.
According to him, in the wake of “biting” economic situation in the country, initiating a payment process for virtual hearings should be the “least” in agenda of the judiciary.
“We have had enough time to make virtual hearings the norm while physical appearances in open court should have taken a back seat.
“With the recent measures taken by the state government requiring civil servants to work three to four times a week, one would think that the managers of the justice sector would be more innovative in their approach to issues of such great importance.
“Moreso, with the issue of judges and magistrates facing inadequate court rooms and the lack of power supply, one would expect virtual hearings to be a more viable, effective and less expensive alternative for citizens,” Akinlade expressed.
According to him. virtual proceedings place less burden on judges and magistrates and therefore, ought to be exploited for technological efficiency rather than monetarily.
“In my opinion, I think it is only clear that the judiciary has put a prize tag on virtual hearings but has not bothered to make it effective and sustainable which should have been the major thrust,” he said
Meanwhile, Akinlade noted that the Bail Information Management System (BIMS) introduced by the state, has only created an additional load to the already existing bottlenecks associated with perfection of bail conditions.
The Lagos judiciary had in 2022, launched the BIMS at the Ikeja High Court. The Lagos Chief Judge. Justice Kazeem Alogba, had said that the system would help to address congestion at correctional centres by resolving delays associated with tracking and verifying defendants and sureties.
Recently, in a circular dated March 28, the Lagos judiciary announced that the BMIS service will now require a payment of N5000 per surety.
It stated that sureties are to provide their National Identification Number along with other verification documents at the BMIS offices situated within the different magistrates courts
Akinlade stressed that the BIMS will only cause more hardship in the perfection of bails, in addition to those currently experienced, in terms of surety approval, taxes, remand amongst others.
Consequently, he called on the leadership of the bar, as well as senior lawyers, to make an intervention in this regards, so as to help alleviate the plights of litigants and lawyers in society.
“The bar should not be silent on this; the Attorney General of Lagos State must intervene in this situation.
“The judiciary is accountable to the people and so, it must remain transparent in its dealings,” he asserted.
