UNODC trains judges, journalists on Administration of Criminal Justice Act implementation in Nigeria

Last week, the United Nations Office on Drug and Crimes (UNODC) organized a two day orientation workshop on Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015 and Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPPA) 2015 for judges and Magistrates in Kaduna, Kaduna State. The event ran simultaneously with a media roundtable for justice sector reporters in Nigeria.

Funded by the European Union (EU) as part of its support to the Justice Sector Reform in Nigeria, the workshop, which was highly attended by members of the bench, mostly from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), examined the need to acquaint themselves with the provisions of the new Acts.

In his opening remarks, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed urged the UNODC to collaborate more with the National Judicial Institute (NJI) in the training of judicial officers in all jurisdictions towards the smooth implementation of the ACJA.

The CJN also charged the judges to ensure that due regard is given to the provisions of the Act when issues bordering on the law is raised in their courts.

Represented by Justice Mohammed Tanko, the CJN explained that the ACJA is the culmination of a long held desire to improve upon the administration of criminal justice and to bring the rules and procedures of trial in Nigeria in line with global best practices and the needs of the 21st century.

His words: “Following a decade of review and proposed reform, the Act was finally passed by the National Assembly and assented to by former President Goodluck Jonathan in March 2015. The main objectives of the ACJA, as found in Section 1 of the Act, are to promote efficient management of criminal justice institutions, provide speedy dispensation of justice, and protect the society from crime, while defending the rights and the interest of the defendant and the victim. These indicate a deliberate shift from punishment as the main goal of criminal justice to restorative justice, which pays attention to the needs of the society, the victims, vulnerable persons and human dignity.”

According to him, the Act has reformed the process of arrest.  “Under section 10(1) of the repealed Criminal Procedure Act, the police could arrest without a warrant, any person who has no ostensible means of sustenance and who cannot give a satisfactory account of himself. Given its vagueness, it is not surprising that this particular provision became an instrument of great abuse by the police who used it as a ground to arrest people indiscriminately. The ACJA has now deleted this provision.

“Similarly, the ACJA, via section 6(2), maintains the right of the suspect to: (a) remain silent or avoid answering any question until after consultation with a legal practitioner or any other person of his own choice; (b) consult a legal practitioner of his choice before making, endorsing or writing any statement or answering any question put to him after arrest; and (c) free legal representation by the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria where applicable. This is quite creditable since the suspect will have the benefit of not only being informed of the offence he has committed, but also an additional advantage of counsel assisting in securing his immediate release on bail and ensuring that trial is expeditious” , he said.

He said that the provision re-affirms section 35(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which provides that any person who is arrested or detained shall have the right to remain silent or not answering any questions until after consultation with a legal practitioner or any other person of his choice. “This would in turn prevent prolonged detention of suspects and hopefully bring about decongestion of the prisons”, he stated.

In his welcome address, the chief judge of the FCT, Ishaq Bello said a critical look at the Act would reveal that its overriding objective is to ensure that the criminal justice machinery is positioned to promote efficient management of the criminal trial process, the criminal justice institutions that superintend it, speedy dispensation of justice, and protection of the rights and interests of the suspect and the victim of crime.

He stressed that the Act preserves the existing criminal procedures but contains new and innovative provision that are tailored to improve on the obvious flaws of the old legislations, introduce aspects that will enhance the efficiency and efficacy of the criminal justice system and finally, “bring our justice system in line with the dictates of international best practices in dealing with suspects and the protection of their rights as accused persons.”

He insisted that a fair and consistent application of the law will put an end to the unacceptable and unjustifiable delays in the disposal of criminal matters.

The President, Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Moses Bello said the bane of the criminal justice system in Nigeria, is the lacuna in the criminal justice legislations itself. “Before now, we had in operation, the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) of the Northern States of Nigeria including the FCT and the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) in the Southern States of Nigeria. These laws were bequeathed to the legal systems in 1963 and 1945 respectively. One can safely conclude therefore that they have long outlived their usefulness. This is what has made the emergence of the ACJA, 2015 the darling bride of the 21st century”, he said, describing the ACJ Act as a revolution in the criminal justice system.  

At the media roundtable, the Lead consultant, KRP Communications Limited, Ms. Kaneng Rwang-Pam said media reportage should be independent and authoritative. Her words: “Our reports should question and even ‘bite the hand that feeds them’ with information. Our reportage should be bottom up rather than top down, mirroring the recipients of policies and projects rather than the policymakers most of the time as is the case now with media focus on “The Big Man”.

According to her, with improved objective journalism, the public has improved access to justice information and statistics. “The public has access to a consolidated view of the way that justice services are delivered. Justice Sector policy implementers can share and distribute information in a secure and credible platform”, she explained. Her presentation is akin to that of Mr. James Ayodele, the UNODC Outreach and Communications Officer who presented an update on media coverage of projects activities in the last one year and counseled that more needs to be done.

Speaking on “Gaining relevance with global audience”, Sylvester Atere of the UNODC highlighted the importance of journalists ‘thinking globally and acting locally’. Atere elucidated on the principles, ethics and elements of journalism and pointed out that the media should change and not the content they carry, quoting McLuhan, a Canadian media theorist.

UNODC consultant, Belachew Fikre presented a paper titled: “The role of the Media in Justice Reform Processes”. He pointed out that the media in Nigeria operates under favourable social and political environment, which gives it the latitude to operate freely, and to exert influence. He added that the media works under a conducive legal framework known as the Freedom of Information Act.

Fikre noted that Justice Reform is a process of overhauling the structural and operational aspects of the key justice institutions through law reform, capacity development and institutionalization of accountability mechanisms. “Framework of the justice project is anchored on this comprehensive understanding of justice reform. Justice reform is a pillar to any democratization process in which a free media can develop. Since the return to democracy in 1999, this has been an on-going agenda in Nigeria. Media being the fourth arm of government, it must play a key part in this reform process”, he said.

He strongly believes that the media have a big role to play in ensuring that other States of the federation enact the ACJA and VAPPA Acts because the ACJA consolidates the Criminal Justice Reform process. In addition to the Acts, new guidelines and procedural rules for the appointment of judicial officers for all superior courts of record in Nigeria was also adopted in November 3, 2014.

Fikre has barrage of question to ask: “What is the media contributing towards raising public awareness of these developments? Nigeria being governed under a federal arrangement, how is the media positioning itself in advocating for their passage at State level? Is the media well informed of their content as a watchdog towards ensuring their proper implementation? Is the media able and ready to bring to the limelight implementation challenges and institutional lapses? Is the media assisting institutional building or focused on strong personalities? How is the media embracing the resource poor, the rural majority and the female gender (who are the primary targets of the justice reform process) as partners rather than mere receivers of the media content?” He is of the view that the media should pay great attention to the issues raised.