The presiding judge of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, Hon. Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba and the pioneer Chairman of the Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC), Prof. Egerton Uvieghara, are among the dignitaries expected to grace the 2017 annual lecture of the National Association of Judiciary Correspondents (NAJUC), Lagos chapter.
The event which has as its main theme: ‘Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015: Innovations, Challenges and the Way Forward,’ is also expected to have in attendance the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem and the special guest of honour.
Justice Garba, who will deliver the main lecture on July 6, 2017, is expected to do a review of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015: Two years after it was signed into law.
A statement jointly issued yesterday by Chairman and Secretary of NAJUC, Peter Fowoyo and Olugbenga Soyele respectively, disclosed that ACJA is a revolutionary intervention in the country’s justice sector delivery system that was ostensibly formulated to impact on the quality of justice and avoid delays in the adjudicatory process.
Nigeria as a democratic country, has a duty to ensure that people, both rich and poor can easily use the institutions and processes of law to resolve their disputes.
The enjoyment of legal rights ought not to be the privilege of the rich. Access to justice requires that people should be able to use the law or the courts with or without the intervention of lawyers for less complicated matters.
Since no piece of legislation is perfect and without some lacuna not envisaged by the draftsmen, the lecture is expected to review some of the serious challenges in the administration of criminal justice which this new legal regime seeks to check.
The second lecture titled: “Journalism in the 21st Century: Opportunities and Challenges,†will be delivered by the Managing Editor, Online and Special Publications of The Nation Newspapers, Mr. Lekan Otunfodunrin.
