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The House of Representatives has decried the slow pace of justice delivery in the country, saying the backlog of pending cases in various courts remains a source of concern in the judiciary.
Chairman, House Committee on Judiciary, Onofiok Luke, who made the assertion in Abuja, said it was unfortunate that some matters spend up to 10 years before their final adjudication at the Supreme Court.
He added that allowing almost all cases to get to the Supreme Court without limitations was a major part of the challenge in the nation’s legal system.
He argued that not all matters should merit the attention of the apex court considering the fact that in advanced democracies like United States, only constitutional and important matters reach the Supreme Court.
Luke, who was immediate past Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, restated that the House of Representatives desires to ensure the independence of the judiciary.
He said there are so many reforms to be carried in the judiciary and assured that his Committee, would work in synergy with relevant stakeholders like the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, the judiciary and civil society organisations (CSOs) to strengthen the judiciary for effective performance and quick, efficient justice delivery to Nigerians.
“General matters are handled by trial and appellate courts based on the precedents set by the Supreme Court. We will have to reconsider our laws to ensure that we do not overburden the Supreme Court, because this approach has slowed down the pace of justice.
“We need to continually advocate and protect independence of the judiciary so that our judges will have the courage to dispense justice without fear and favour.
“By our laws, our judges are not allowed to speak freely. We hold our judiciary and by extension, the people a duty to speak up for the welfare of the judiciary,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the CLEEN Foundation has tasked the Federal Government and judiciary on the need to digitise the nation’s criminal Justice system to create more accessibility to judgements on corruption related cases.
Executive Director of CLEEN Foundation, Dr. Benson Olugbuo, who made the request, said there was the need for Nigerians to have access judgements being dispensed on corruption cases through website and other Internet modes to stem graft in the country.
Olugbuo, who spoke in Ado-Ekiti yesterday at a workshop on ‘Transparency and Accountability in the Administration of Criminal Justice System (ACJA)’, said it has established resource centres in eight states of the federation where citizens could have access to corruption-related cases and other matters.
Represented by Executive Director, Legal, Mrs. Esther Mabadeje, he argued that creating a digitised platform would aid research in the legal profession and help to expose efforts being made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies to tackle stealing of public funds.
