COVID-19: Group laments suspension of judicial activities, calls for tech-driven judicial system
Ayodele Olalere
A judicial pressure group, the Access to Justice (A2J), has lamented the suspension of judiciary activities in the face of rampaging Coronavirus pandemic in the court.
In a statement by the group, signed by its Convener, Joseph Otteh, and dated April 19, 2020, it lamented the total paralysis of court activities following the lockdown caused by COVID-19, saying such could have been avoided if the judiciary had been proactive in introducing technology in handling judicial matters.
The statement added the Nigerian judicial system should emulate other developed countries that have adopted technology as a means of delivering quick judicial process. It added failure of the Nigeria judiciary to adopt modern technology is “exacting heavy toll on the delivery of justice and shows courts are unprepared for 21st century exigencies.
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“On March 23rd 2020, Hon. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, ordered that, as a preventive step to check the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), all Heads of Court should suspend Court sittings for a period of two weeks.
“In response to this circular, all courts in the country suspended proceedings with considerations made for urgent, essential and time-bound matters.
“Since that time, most, not all, court operations across the country have been shuttered. Judicial and non-judicial staff of courts who have to sit at this time are exposed to some level of risks in the course of hearing cases.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is worsening the situation of a judicial system that was already beleaguered and notorious for its poor performance brought about by protracted delays and interminable adjournments, poor management of over-crowded dockets, as well as a steep decline in public perceptions of its transparency and integrity.
“With COVID-19 and its associated effects, including the suspension of judicial proceedings, the Judiciary’s many fault lines are exposed.
“The failure of successive generations of judicial leaderships to re-organize how justice delivery processes are ordered so as to make them more efficient, timely and effective by leveraging the tools offered by modern information technology for this purpose is all so clear now.
“The Judiciary itself, has, for a long period, bemoaned the increasing workload of the courts, and the stress it places on the justice system and Judges, but has not done much in the way of mitigation by the introduction of technologies that can help it cope with the pressure on its dockets and the use of its limited time and resources.
“Rather, the Judiciary has adamantly carried on with labourious, inefficient manual processes that promote inefficiency, increase costs and create extreme inconveniences for both itself and those who depend on its services.
“The failure of the Judiciary to turn to modern technology has considerably impaired the delivery of justice in Nigeria,” it added.
The statement further stated with technology, court activities would have still been going on in spite of the lock down, citing judiciary in countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Malaysia, that have adopted technology to continue handling court cases in the face of the spread of COVID-19.
“This is what has been done in many countries, including developing countries, like India that embraced information technology in its court systems since the seventies.
“A number of other developing countries, Malaysia, Kenya, South Africa and Brazil, are doing the same.
“In fact, in 2019, South Africa began the use of software to create and implement digital courtrooms retrofitted with multi-media and video conferencing tools. “Communication technologies are so widely and inexpensively available at this time that there is no meaningful excuse not to exploit their use to keep some courts and proceedings running even during a pandemic.
It, therefore, called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the National Judicial Council to immediately “require heads of court that have not done so, to make immediate provisions and directions enabling the use of electronic tools for trial of cases where possible, particularly appellate cases, and ensure the continuity of court business where possible in the coming weeks, especially for cases involving fundamental rights and the liberty of citizens, cases touching on issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic itself, and other time-sensitive cases.
“Commence, immediately after the period of the pandemic, a time-scaled programme of re-organizing the way States and Federal courts will henceforth conduct business, while mandating Federal and State courts to develop sustainable policies and programmes for leveraging information technology systems , such as electronic filings, tracking, communication and notifications, certifications, case management, record keeping and video conferencing – in the way courts function going forward.
“Consider a substantial reduction of the annual vacation period of Courts for the 2019/2020 legal year.
“This is a fair way for the judiciary to show that it is invested in seeing that justice is timeously delivered to litigants.”
The group also urged that, “the Attorney General of the Federation, Federal and State governments, alongside National and State legislatures to support any reforms that the Judiciary embarks upon in the use of technology for delivering justice by appropriating adequate funds for this purpose, and ensuring that those funds are put to effective and prudent use.”
