Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Opeyemi Oke, on Wednesday unveiled new sentencing guidelines for judges and magistrates in Lagos.
She said the guidelines were to ensure uniformity of punishments imposed on convicts by all the judges and magistrates handling criminal cases in the state.
She explained that the sentencing guidelines were part of the justice sector reforms, adding that the initiative would, among others, address the problem of prison congestion.
Justice Oke made the public presentation of the sentencing guidelines during the inaugural meeting of the Justice Sector Reform Committee which held on Wednesday in Ikeja.
The Chief Judge restated that the main focus of the judiciary under her watch was to speed up the process of justice administration and enhance the reputation of the judiciary.
She pointed out that the economic prosperity of the state was tied to an effective judiciary.
“Any society with a sound criminal justice system enjoys rapid economic growth.
“Going forward, the Lagos State Government is working towards building a ‘citizen-centric’ criminal justice system for the purpose of ensuring efficient and effective justice delivery,” the Chief Judge said.
Also speaking, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, said inter-agency collaboration was sine qua non for building an efficient justice system.
Kazeem said the Wednesday meeting was in line with the plan to have periodic inter-agency discussions on the challenges facing the criminal justice system and find practical solutions to them.
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She said the guidelines were to ensure uniformity of punishments imposed on convicts by all the judges and magistrates handling criminal cases in the state.
She explained that the sentencing guidelines were part of the justice sector reforms, adding that the initiative would, among others, address the problem of prison congestion.
Justice Oke made the public presentation of the sentencing guidelines during the inaugural meeting of the Justice Sector Reform Committee which held on Wednesday in Ikeja.
The Chief Judge restated that the main focus of the judiciary under her watch was to speed up the process of justice administration and enhance the reputation of the judiciary.
She pointed out that the economic prosperity of the state was tied to an effective judiciary.
“Any society with a sound criminal justice system enjoys rapid economic growth.
“Going forward, the Lagos State Government is working towards building a ‘citizen-centric’ criminal justice system for the purpose of ensuring efficient and effective justice delivery,” the Chief Judge said.
Also speaking, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, said inter-agency collaboration was sine qua non for building an efficient justice system.
Kazeem said the Wednesday meeting was in line with the plan to have periodic inter-agency discussions on the challenges facing the criminal justice system and find practical solutions to them.
In this article: