By Eberechi Obinagwam
Perhaps, the non-enforcement of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) which came into effect in 2015 may have inspired the initiative.
A non-governmental organisation, CLEEN foundation recently launched a project whose singular purpose was to monitor the Criminal Justice Administration Reform in Nigeria. The project was launched in Akure, Ondo State.
In a statement made available to our reporter, CLEEN Foundation said that the project is aimed at strengthening the implementation of the ACJA 2015 in Nigeria through systematically monitoring the key criminal justice actors to ensure the fulfilment of their roles as required under the ACJA 2015.
CLEEN Foundation Information Technology Officer, Akinremi Gabriel said that one of the key agenda of the project is to develop a web and mobile-based platform (uwazi) that would track court cases, completed cases, court trials, proceedings and injunctions relating to corruption, accountability and transparency in the administration of Criminal Justice system in Nigeria thereby facilitating easy access to court cases for transparency and openness in judiciary, and promote accountability in implementation of criminal justice system in the country as it is being done in other developed countries.
CLEEN Foundation legal consultant, Catherine Ogunjebi, added that the need for synergy between the actors of the administration of criminal justice law cannot be overemphasised as she urged Institutions, practitioners and stakeholders on criminal justice to work together to see that the innovation of the law does not remain paper innovations
She also stated that though a lot has been done in respect of advocacy and awareness of the Administration of criminal justice Act (ACJA), and the Administration of criminal justice law (ACJL), more need to be done in respect of the actual implementation of the law.
She called on the government to be alive to its responsibilities, stating that the monitoring team in Ondo will be responsible to proffer solutions that will help the organisation’s objectives.