President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday declared open, a 2-day National Summit on Justice 2024, organized by the Federal Ministry of Justice, in collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association, and the National Judicial Council.
The President was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
In his welcome address, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, said the national summit seeks to address critical challenges in the justice sector.
The AGF hinted that the summit will address the significant challenges plaguing Nigeria’s justice sector and pave the way for the much-needed reforms that will make justice more accessible to all Nigerians.
One of the summit’s goals according to Fagbemi, is to review, validate, and adopt the revised National Policy on Justice 2024-2028 to drive prison reforms, access to justice for the average Nigerian, as well as the review of electoral laws and procedures in handling election related cases, among several other reforms.
Among other goals, the summit, the Justice Minister said, will deliberate on draft legislations proposed to address specific identified challenges within the justice sector, relating to the judicial appointments process, administration, funding and budgeting for the judiciary, the elimination of delays and inefficiencies in justice delivery and to evolve ways to reduce the amount of time for adjudication of cases, eliminate some of the associated technicalities, and reduce the number of cases getting to the Supreme Court.
The theme of the summit is: “Repositioning the Justice System: Constitutional, Statutory, and Operational Reforms for Access and Efficiency.
Speakers at the occasion include the NBA Chairman, Yakubu Maikyau SAN, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Olukayode Ariwoola.
In his welcome address, Justice Ariwoola thanked President Tinubu for his unprecedented support for justice sector reforms, while commending the AGF for sustaining the national summit on justice delivery sector.
The CJN expressed hope that the summit will come up with recommendations for sustainable reform of the judiciary.
Dr Willy Mutunga, a former Chief Justice of Kenya, gave the keynote address virtually.
Also speaking, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said the Senate is inspired by the commitment shown by stakeholders in the justice sector towards reforming the judiciary.
He assured that in the coming months, the National Assembly will deliberate on the outcome of the summit.
Akpabio called on all stakeholders and State governments to support the reform towards actualizing a seamless justice delivery system.
As part of the reform, he suggested that interlocutory appeals should come after adjudication on a substantive matter to save unnecessary delay in justice dispensation.
The Senate President aslo called for reform on the issue of the AGF giving approval before judgement debts are enforced, insisting that the Supreme Court is the final arbiter on any legal issue.
