Bayelsa Advocates Expansion of Magistrate Courts’ Jurisdiction

Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

The need for state governments to take appropriate steps towards reviewing and expanding the jurisdiction of their various magistracies to improve justice delivery in the country has been stressed.

 The Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, stated this while delivering a keynote address at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Magistrates’ Association of Nigeria (MAN) Conference in Yenagoa, the state capital.

Describing magistrate courts as the bedrock of the Nigerian criminal justice system, he also called on the second tier of government to give magistrates a relatively better recognition as judicial officers like their senior counterparts on the higher bench.

The deputy governor noted that the role of magistrates was too crucial and indispensable in the administration of criminal justice to be left the way it is.

 To this end, he challenged state governments to look at extant laws with a view to expanding the scope and quality of judicial services being rendered by magistrates in the light of current realities in the country.

Ewhrudjakpo, who also made a strong case for community service as an option in the country’s criminal laws, stressed that hearing of cases should not be unnecessarily protracted over time.

He said the state government was making concerted efforts towards the improvement of the quality of the welfare of magistrates and related issues in the state.

Ewhrudjakpo, therefore, assured the state chapter of the Magistrates’ Association of Nigeria that the government would complete the magistrate’s court complex in Yenagoa to enhance the speedy dispensation of justice in the state.

Also speaking at the ceremony, the state Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Kate Abiri, applauded the state chapter of the association for sparing no efforts in putting the conference together.

Justice Abiri, who was represented by Justice Matilda Ayemieye, while commending the Bayelsa State Government for doing well for judicial officers in the state, requested for the completion of Magistrates Court Complex.

In his remarks, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Biriyai Dambo (SAN), described the magistracy as an integral part of the judiciary that holds the fabric of the society together, and urged the participants to draw optimally from the conference.

Also, in his welcome address, Mr. Obiri Florizel, the chairman of MAN, Bayelsa State chapter, called for better welfare and working environment for magistrates in view of the bulk of criminal and civil matters they handle, saying that most litigations begin at the magistrate courts.