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PSC Chair Highlights Need for Modernization of Electronic Evidence Laws on Human Rights Day
By Prince Benson Davies
At the 2024 International Human Rights Day, the chair of the Police Service Commission (PSC), DIG Hashimu Argungu Rtd mni, emphasized the need for innovation and proper use of electronic evidence. The chair noted that old laws and regulations have become uncertain and obsolete, highlighting the importance of adapting to new technologies and methods of evidence collection
The chair’s statement also underscores the significance of International Human Rights Day, which commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The day serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting human rights and promoting dignity and justice for all
The PSC Chairman spoke at the International Human Rights Day 2024 with the theme “Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now: All Humans are Born Free and Equal in Dignity and Rights,” held today, Tuesday, December 10th, 2024, at the Nigerian Bar Association National Secretariat Auditorium, Central Business District, Abuja.
He noted that there is a glaring lack of innovation and proper use of electronic evidence and other relevant devices.
DIG Argungu lamented that the old laws and regulations “appear to be uncertain and obsolete and also, it is becoming harder for the regulations to keep up with technology. “It is doubtful that new languages in law could anticipate the cleverness of technology.”
The PSC Chairman said there was a need at “this hour of the 21st century and the fourth Industrial Revolution, for “all lawyers and judicial staff to have training in recognition of offences committed through computers and how electronic evidence can be obtained and preserved,” stressing that “we should also bear in mind that an old-fashioned way of long-hand writing in taking court proceedings is already obsolete and ineffective in today’s world.”.
DIG Argungu also noted the conflicts of procedural laws in the area of disposal of exhibits in cases disposed of in law courts.
