Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba
There are strong indications that the Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa would undertake a review of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) with an executive bill that is almost ready for presentation to the Delta State House of Assembly.
The Delta State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Isaiah Bozimo, who gave this hint during a chat with newsmen in Asaba on Wednesday, observed that the review of the law was necessitated by the reality of the times.
Bozimo noted that various stakeholders took the opportunity of the summit organised by the state’s Ministry of Justice earlier this year to make inputs on how best to improve the ACJL.
He pointed out that the proposed review of the ACJL was prompted by certain observed persistent difficulties in its implementation, adding that such improvement would enable the law to achieve its legal objective.
Nonetheless, the state attorney-general has decried “the slow pace of trials (and) the awaiting trial syndrome, which has meant that the population of inmates at various correctional centres” would keep increasing.
He described as unacceptable a situation where about 80 per cent of inmates were persons awaiting trial while only 20 per cent had been convicted.
Bozimo said that there had been several complaints emanating from the manner some executive agencies performed their functions, which were perceived as high handed, especially in the area of enforcement of their rules and regulations.
He stated that Okowa had already forwarded an executive bill known as Administrative Procedure Bill to the State House of Assembly to address these complaints.
He added that the bill would seek to compel all executive agencies to publish their rules and regulations either in the state website, their own website, their official notice board or in a gazette to enable the public have adequate knowledge of them.
Meanwhile, the state attorney-general and commissioner for justice, has harped on the importance of nurturing cordial relationship between the bench and the bar to ensure effective justice delivery in Delta State.
He noted the active participation of the bench during the aforementioned summit and commended stakeholders for their rich contributions, saying that it was gratifying that the bench and the bar have continued to show mutual respect for each other, in tandem with time-honoured tradition of legal practice.
Bozimo also commended the staff of ministry of justice for performing their duties with utmost commitment and integrity.
