Some judicial stakeholders in Anambra have expressed worry over the delay in speedy dispensation of justice in spite of the domestication of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) in the state.
The stakeholders made the observation at a one-day capacity-building workshop on the Anambra State Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) organised by the Law Hub Development and Advocacy Centre in Awka.
Mr Micheal Anyadiegwu, a Magistrate at the Awka Magisterial Division, Amawbia of Anambra Judiciary said even though ACJL 2010 and 2022 (revised) had been operational in the state, there were still challenges bedeviling speedy dispensation of criminal cases .
Anyadiegwu blamed the challenge on lack of effective synergy between the critical players in the justice administration sector including the Ministry of Justice, the Police, Nigeria Correctional Service and the Judiciary.
He said the Police were crucial in the criminal justice process as they were in charge of protection of lives, arrest and investigation of criminal matter noting that abuse in the system had reduced confidence in the system.
“We still have problem of rising number of awaiting trial inmates; I hope that after this workshop and subsequent step down to the various justice actors, we have a more efficient and effective judicial system.
“What we want is a better implemented ACJL to fast track the criminal justice process in Nigeria and Anambra in particular. I think Anambra has the best ACJL nationwide, having experimented and improved on what we had.
“We need attitudinal and institutional changes because you may have the best legislation but they will be implemented by human beings.
“We have laws that can reduce the number of custody persons but we are facing serious institutional issues.
“We also have corruption as a problem, people no longer have confidence in the Police because of the unnecessary transfer of cases between stations, petitioners become defenders in their own case because the big man does not want to go to court,” he said.
On his part, CSP Anayo Nwano, Officer in charge of Legal, Anambra Police Command, said the increase in custody number was due to slow pace of assignment of cases to judges.
Nwano, who was represented by CP Nnaghe Itam in the legal unit, said the Police were doing their best to speed up the criminal justice system and that the Command had liaison officers in the ministry of justice to facilitate processes.
“The criminal justice process brought good innovations but there is a law that says that in criminal matters, there must be remand processes at the high court which must come by way of motion exparte.
“It also says that the Police must wait until the file is assigned to a judge; this is a problem why we have people stay more than necessary in custody.
“Our recommendation is that the ministry of justice should empower any sitting judge to take handle matters. This will help decongest the cells,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Osita Chukwuma, the Executive Director Of Law Hub Development And Advocacy Centre said the Centre was excited by the proactive leadership that Anambra had shown in setting forth at dawn to enact the ACJL.
Chukwuma, who was represented by Mr Austin Udechukwu, an official at the Centre, said that Anambra was one of the states which Law Hub Development and Advocacy Centre was implementing the second phase of this MacArthur Foundation-supported project.
He said enacting the ACJL was one thing, and ensuring its full implementation was another while advocating that stakeholders ensured the full implementation of all the provisions it contained
“This project by Law Hub focuses on popularising and disseminating the Administration of Criminal Justice Laws of States and continuously updating the Laws to Reflect Amendments.
“Law Hub successfully implemented the first phase of this project in six states namely; Nasarawa, Kano, Akwa Ibom, Oyo, Enugu and Adamawa.
“We also urge all the stakeholders to deliberately and consistently make use of the Practice Direction made pursuant to the ACJL as this would greatly improve the criminal justice sector of various states,” he said.
The workshop also had other stakeholders including lawyers, judges, Correctional Services, the Media and Civil Society in attendance.(NAN)
