Looking back at the past 5 months, I cannot
but be pleased to be a participant in the ongoing OSIWA/NULAI Prison
Decongestion Project tagged "Facilitating Access to Justice for Pre-Trial
Detainees".
In the course of the execution of the
project, several workshops and training sessions were organised for
participants and from these, I learnt among other things, what is the project is
about and what is expected of participants in relation to the project including
how to fill an online database, drafting of motions and applications,
affidavits, etc. Learning and practicing these things have been exciting and
impactful, adding a fortune to my knowledge of procedural law.
The Client(Detainees) Interviewing sessions
afforded me the opportunity of knowing what it takes to 'listen more and talk
less' and how to sift facts relevant to the case from irrelevant ones, being
guided by the data requested in the Client Intake Forms. I was also privileged
on several occasions to be in court with lawyers representing our clients
availing me the chance of 'learning in practice'(although I did not announce
appearance in court, sitting there with my clients' files made me feel like a
lawyer who is out to get justice done at all costs LOL)
It is saddening however to note that the
attitude of prosecuting counsels and sometimes the defence counsels contribute
to the delay in the business of the court. Giving an instance of one our
client's case, he was accused alongside others for certain offences not within
the jurisdiction of the magistrate court. Hence they sought to transfer the
case to the High Court but owing to the attitude of the prosecuting counsel at the
High Court (so we were told by the police prosecutor at the magistrate) the
transfer could not be perfected and so no production notice was issued by the court
to the prisons for the accused to be brought before the High Court. So for 5
months, our clients have been appearing before the magistrate court for a
remittal order to the prison since their bail could not be perfected and the
prosecuting counsel at the High Court failed to take necessary steps to
commence trial at the High Court. Our lawyer had to visit the Ministry of
Justice several times to get the prosecuting counsel to do the needful but up
till today, the FIR has not been struck out at the Magistrate Court.
Other challenges encountered include the
uncooperative attitude of court registrars the and the lack of proper record
keeping in the Records Office of the Courts. On one occasion, we were at a
court to obtain information about one of our clients' case but the hostile
attitude of the registrar made us leave without getting answers to some of our
questions(although we subsequently got all relevant information). On the issue
of Record Keeping, a visit to the Records Office in the Court premises revealed
that our client's case had been assigned to a judge without being documented in
the Records Office. This became known to us after we had wasted time and money trying
to know which court our case was assigned to.
Proper record keeping cannot be overlooked
in facilitating access to justice for Detainees, therefore adequate machineries
should be put in place by the administrators of our justice system if JUSTICE is
to be done to all parties. Efforts should also be geared towards encouraging
lawyers and legal representatives not to be lackadaisical about cases they
handle as justice must also be promptly done to all parties. I really look
forward to learning more in days to come.
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