The Police, Court load And Access to Justice: The NBA Challenge

By

Chidi Nwachukwu Esq.

Our  judicial system is meant  to deliver justice dispassionately as obtained in most other countries, but  this is not always the case in Nigeria. I still recall the editorial of a certain mainstream daily newspaper sometime last year, titled; Needed, a state of emergency in our criminal Justice system. The article revolves very much around  James Ibori’s ugly scenario with our judiciary, how  nothing was found against him in a system mired in corruption  and careful  mischief. Of course, the London court had long sentenced Ibori for stealing public  funds he managed on behalf of  his people in Delta State. However, this article is not particularly about James Ibori  but will dwell generally on poor justice delivery in Nigeria. This issue should equally be of great interest to the Nigerian Bar Association currently led by Okey Wali SAN .One of the reasons being that, for an average Nigerian, a lawyer and the police are  the justice system he easily come in contact with, and would  expect that   the right thing would be done, but unfortunately to the contrary.

Poor and inefficient justice delivery hurts the poor most, and over the years the  Nigerian Bar Association  has come to represent  the voice of the people, often demanding that  justice, equity and , fairness should not only be done but must be seen to be done at all times and in all strata of society. The Association today is bedeviled with numerous challenges of which Okey Wali  led executive must confront head on within a limited and suffocating time frame. Beginning from its own domain, it must rise to the challenges of lawyers whose stock in trade is the abuse of court process, filing frivolous applications and prolonging litigation to the detriment of indigent litigants.

I believe  for the justice sector to deliver in Nigeria, Lawyers and the Nigerian police must also play  critical roles. First, the police jack of all trades approach should be addressed. Sometimes most of the  criminal prosecution process begins with  the police, but the  force has been unable to discharge their duties professionally in most cases due to corruption and pecuniary interest in other issues they should not concern themselves with. Section 4 of the Police Act  is clear with respect to general duties of the police.

“The police shall be employed for the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the protection of life and property and the enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charged, and shall perform such military duties within or outside Nigeria as may be required of them by, or under the authority of this or any Act”.

 A situation where the police exploit every complaint brought before it whether rent issue between landlord and tenant, debt, breach of contract or trust and other sundry issues of which it is not permitted by law must be discouraged.

 The NBA should educate the police on this issue through some form of collaboration programmes. It  may require that the governance form of the police be restructured to accommodate a strictly professional Lawyer in every police station accountable to the NBA. His/Her job would be to define cases that are reported to the station and properly assign them to where they belong. This will also avoid detaining lawful citizens who may have no business at the police station in the first place over contractual issues. But more importantly, the NBA should devise a public enlightenment campaign programme to educate Nigerians on matters they should report to the police, seek legal services or mediation in their best interest. (it is barbaric that an average Nigerian in the 21^st century still uses the police to terrorize his neighbour on virtually any issue).It is also worrisome that the police still detain suspects at their whims and caprices rather than charge them to court within 24 hours as stipulated by chapter 4 of the 1999 constitution.

 The police should be made to create crime diary that will contain reports made by complainants, the nature of matter, time of reports, time of release if detained and the IPO who handled the case. This will assist in auditing the activities of the police by a higher authority or other interest groups. Restricting the police to its prime duty as the guardian of social order will make it more professional in crime issues rather than being jack of all trades. It will also reduce the incidences of human right violations, which is a contrariety of human development efforts the country is driving at through its various reform programmes.

Then come to our Courts, Our courts as a dispute resolution mechanism are too slow in dispensing justice. And justice delayed is justice denied. This issue has been over flogged over the years for which little has been done. A typical judge may have about  twenty cases or more before him every Monday morning  especially in the South, of which many has been known to last as long as five  years or longer, this is even as Nigerians are not litigious in nature. Expeditious resolution of disputes is central to the right of access of justice. A certain English Judge once queried; ‘What good is the scared writ of Habeas Corpus if the petitioner must serve most of his sentence before determination of his rights’? If a litigant whose rights has been abused must wait four or five years for relief as it is always the case with our courts – that person, certainly has been denied an effective access to justice. The twin demons of cost and delay are strangulating our courts both higher and lower ones and without an iota of doubt on the pernicious effects the quality of justice being rendered by these courts sometimes. Those who are impatient with these tortuous delays often resort to extra judicial measures to settle their differences.

In tacking this menace, the NBA should approach it philosophically and then initiate a specific legislative agenda formulated to complement a theoretical framework. The indivisibility of justice cannot be undermined. Under the present system of federalism, the legislature, executive and judicial branches of both the state and federal governments must work together to ensure respect for the constitution and to promote fair and equal application of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria .

Undoubtedly, we live in a rapidly growing and ever changing society. New problems and societal tensions are created by increased technology. Some of the issues that concern our citizens today may not have been heard of. Today we talk of privatization and workers rights, e-commerce, patents, drugs administration etc none of these perhaps is of political or judicial concerns forty years ago. Judges should be made to attain regular trainings to meet up the challenges of new issues and developments in our courts today.

 What is equally important is that policy makers are lacking in an overview of the entire system and its pitfalls, a cursory look at the notice paper of the National Assembly reveal that there are duplication of Motions and Bills basically addressing the same issues, which would have been unnecessary if there were proper appraisal of these issues. The NBA and Civil society organizations should rise up to the challenge through conferences and workshops that will articulate the issues better than what has been done in this tiny piece of work. Lawyers should also be made to re-tool their skills in various issues confronting our legal system through continuous education.

It is clear that issues relating to court reform and access to justice are political questions, of which members of the legal profession form an intelligent, articulate, interested and vocal community. They not only speak for themselves individually but through associations. The NBA has a responsibility of not only engendering an effective state where law and order are timely enforced, but also move the nation towards a capable state where strong institutions are nurtured of which expeditious  dispute resolution mechanism is vitally one of them. All these may be difficult within a short time left for  Okey Wali SAN , however it remains an all time challenge for the NBA. 

Nwachukwu, a legal  Practitioner and Development Strategist, is the Managing Partner WILSON LEGAL Garki,Abuja.

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