Justice administration expected to make positive impact in Lagos State under new administration

…Enormous work done to guarantee this, says outgoing AG

Justice administration inwith the advent of a new administration in Lagos State, Businessday Law Editor, THEODORA KIO-LAWSON caught up with the immediate past Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, ADENIJI KAZEEM, SAN to take a retrospective look at the administration of justice system in Lagos State in the last 4 years and what the future of law and justice could be in the state. This interview reveals a scorecard of law reforms, prison and traffic congestion, among various other developments EXCERPTS…

What has your administration left behind for the new government to work with, with speCIFIC REGARD TO LAW REFORMS?

We brought into effect some major policy thrusts for the people of Lagos State - 14 Bills were passed into law while 12 are currently undergoing drafting process.

Also, under our administration, the Ministry of Justice in January, 2017 organised a stakeholders summit themed the “Contemporary Trends: Catalysts for Justice Sector Reform in Lagos State;” where stakeholders from the public and private sector critically brainstormed on the collective ways to review the existing system and to introduce contemporary reforms in the justice system of Lagos State. The report on modalities to implement the proposed reforms has since been forwarded to the appropriate authorities including the National Judicial Service Commission, Chief Judge of Nigeria (CJN), Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Chief Judge of Lagos State for input and contribution.

What impact have you recorded with some of these reforms AND LAWS?

Other than the reform process itself, we understood the critical importance of sensitizing citizens and residents of Lagos about the newly passed laws and so, we created a web portal where all Laws & Regulations of Lagos State are available online. The dedicated web portal is regularly updated with all new laws and regulations and has since the launch recorded an average of 100,000 users every month and over 10,000 downloads of the laws of Lagos State.

Also, we are all witnesses to how the activities of Land Grabbers popularly known as ‘Omo Onile were almost completely stifling commercial activities in the State before we came on board. There was need to check this menace. There was need to eliminate this practice by these miscreants who use force and intimidation to dispossess or prevent any person or entity from acquiring legitimate interest and possession of property, to the barest minimum.

To this end, we created a Special Taskforce on Land Grabbers, known as the ‘Omo Onile Taskforce’. The mandate of this task force was to rid the state of these notorious land grabbers.

Since its establishment, the task force has received several petitions and carried out countless criminal prosecution cases against suspected land grabbers – with several of these cases currently ongoing in different Courts.

Was your administration successful with any reforms towards the elimination of undue delays and elongated periods with which criminal MATTERS ARE DEALT WITH?

Indeed we were. To deal with this challenge, we had to utilize the Plea Bargain protocol and this has drastically reduced the time spent on criminal cases, as well as the decongestion of courts and prisons. The Plea Bargain Protocol was launched in 2017 with a view to driving quick and effective resolution of criminal cases and in turn decongest the prisons and court dockets.

TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR EFFORT towards the decongestion of prisons as this is still a huge setback to the administration of justice, not just in Lagos but across the country

As part of efforts to overcome prison congestion and ensuring accelerated hearing for minor offences, we facilitated collaboration between the Ministry of Justice and the Prison Fellowship to explore the adoption of restorative justice measures as part of sentencing options for designated relevant offences.

With this initiative, which was geared towards the elimination of excessive use of prison sentences for minor offences, we embarked on a pilot scheme to assess the feasibility of Restorative Justice Options rather than imprisonment.

Furthermore, the Lagos Criminal Information System also known as Criminal Case Tracking System was initiated in 2018 by this administration. This is a crime data register, which serves as a repository of biometric data of persons that have been in contact with the Criminal Justice System.

To date, over 8,000 entries have been captured in the LCIS database in the Prison, Police and within

the Criminal Justice Administration Sector and this includes their personal, physical and bio-metric details.

Also, working towards building a ‘citizen-centric’ criminal justice system for the purpose of ensuring efficient and effective justice delivery, we published and distributed the sentencing guidelines to ensure uniformity of punishments imposed on convicts by all the judges and magistrates handling criminal cases in the state.

What other justice sector developments took place during your tenure, which in your opinion could bring major changes in the system if maintained or improved upon by the current administration?

One of such developments would be the establishment of a DNA Forensic Centre. For us, the DNA forensic centre was another landmark achievement of this administration. The centre, which was set up on the 3rd of May 2017 is of world class standard and the first by any government in Nigeria.

Our ultimate aim of setting up the centre was to create an enabling environment for proper investigation, prosecution of crimes, adjudication and the administration of Justice in the state.

We also set up a viable system for monitoring the prosecution of Sexual offences in the State; a Sexual Offences and Child Justice Unit; an online platform for the Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership (LPILP) to give room for accessibility; a Rapid Tax Prosecution Unit, to support the work of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS); and new courts in Ajegunle and Badagry.

Speaking of more developments, in 2018, we designed and created an online platform for the Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership (LPILP) to give room for accessibility. Through the LPILP, we have facilitated easy access to justice by firming out Pro Bono matters to private chambers and Legal Practitioners. The private chambers take up civil/criminal suits on behalf of LASG and defend/ prosecute the said suits for the good of the public free of charge.

Would you confidently say that residents of Lagos state currently have unhindered access to justice as a result of the work you have done?

With the implementation of all of these initiatives and programmes and our dynamic law reforms, we believe that under the Governor Ambode-led administration, justice sector in Lagos state gave the people of Lagos greater access to justice.

I must however state, that we owe most of our achievements and successes to the cooperation and support received from State House of Assembly, the Judiciary, the Police, the Prison Services and other security operatives. Therefore, the current access to justice enjoyed by Lagosians was achieved through collective effort by all of the above.