Timelines in the adjudication of cases at the various levels of courts will repose more confidence in the judiciary, the activist says
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
An Activist, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, has reechoed the position of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo that the National Assembly take advantage of the constitutional review by including timelines in the adjudication of cases at the different layers of the courts.
According to the activist in a statement, the proposed timeline would ensure quick dispensation of justice in various levels of the Court in Nigeria and repose confidence in the judiciary.
Comrade Sulaiman recalled that Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has been in the vanguard of addressing the slow pace of justice delivery in the nation’s courts by proposing to the National Assembly Committee on Constitutional review to include timelines for justice delivery at all the levels of the court.
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Comrade Sulaiman, the Executive Chairman, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), urged the Committee to review the timeline at all levels to ensure quick dispensation of justice to parties in any matter before the Court.
Osinbajo has in recent times, been at the forefront of addressing the issue of delay in processing cases through the nation’s courts.
Prof. Osinbajo, who restated his position recently on the subject matter as Chairman of a Justice Sector Reform Summit in honour and celebration of the 70th birthday of a legal luminary, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, described the issue of delays in the judicial process as the ‘elephant in the room.’
He wondered what would happen to the country’s judicial system in “another 50 years given the gridlock in processing cases through the courts and the question of the integrity of the legal process, or better still, the integrity of actors in the legal profession in Nigeria.
The rights activist then appealed to the committee of the current National Assembly on the Constitutional review to use the opportunity of the ongoing review of the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by giving a timelines for the adjudication of cases in each level of the courts in order to save the judicial system from catastrophe.
Sulaiman who doubles as the Convener, Save Lagos Group (SLG), stated that the idea of spending 5 to 30 years on a case that shouldn’t be more than two years does not speak well of the judicial system among the comity of nations of the World, proposing 12 months for Civil matter at the trial High Court and Criminal matter should take not more than nine months. He also said Appeals for both Civil and Criminal matters should take eight months, while both Civil and Criminal matters should take four months in the Supreme Court which is the apex court of the land.
Sulaiman appealed to the members of the Constitutional Review Committee to look into this grave area of our national life, noting that the strong and effective judiciary was the bedrock of any democracy and judiciary served as the last hope of the common man in the country.
Sulaiman called on both chambers of the National Assembly to use their current position to sanitize the judicial system for effective political and human development, stressing that the timelines for the adjudication of cases in all our levels of Courts would help to make the people repose absolute confidence in the judicial system.
He commended the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) for his recent initiative on the new rule guiding the Appellate Court in order to save the respected Court of Appeal from being a dumping ground for frivolous appeal on injunctions of the trial courts.