Administration of justice stakeholders have bemoaned prison overcrowding in the country.
The stakeholders, who spoke during the Ekiti State Working Group Meeting on Promoting Accountability and Transparency in Administration of Criminal Justice System in Nigeria in Ado Ekiti on Saturday, blamed non-compliance with procedural laws and delay in trial of suspects for the development.
The stakeholders at the forum comprising officials of the Ministry of Justice, Nigerian Bar Association, police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Office of Public Defenders and Nigeria Human Rights Commission,
According to them, the failure to comply with procedural laws is a major setback to a proper implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
The event was organised by CLEEN Foundation in collaboration with MacArthur Foundation.
The Executive Director of Gender Relevance Initiative Promotion, Mrs Rita Ilevbare, who coordinated the programme, called on magistrates to visit the prisons in their jurisdiction to see the need to comply with the provisions of the ACJA on the prompt dispensation of justice, particularly relating to the large number of awaiting trial inmates.
Ilevbare said, “The law stipulates a day-to-day trial of suspects. It does not allow for long adjournments with the purpose of reducing the number of inmates in prisons. The magistrates need to adhere to this.”
She said CLEEN Foundation was planning to open a Resource Centre on Corruption Cases in the state in August.
Ilevbare said, “At the centre, we want to keep laws, judgments and efforts of CLEEN Foundation concerning the ACJA for easy accessories by the general public.”
She described as worrisome the disclosure by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons that 53 Ekiti indigenes had been rescued from different parts of the world.
The stakeholders, who spoke during the Ekiti State Working Group Meeting on Promoting Accountability and Transparency in Administration of Criminal Justice System in Nigeria in Ado Ekiti on Saturday, blamed non-compliance with procedural laws and delay in trial of suspects for the development.
The stakeholders at the forum comprising officials of the Ministry of Justice, Nigerian Bar Association, police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Office of Public Defenders and Nigeria Human Rights Commission,
According to them, the failure to comply with procedural laws is a major setback to a proper implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
The event was organised by CLEEN Foundation in collaboration with MacArthur Foundation.
The Executive Director of Gender Relevance Initiative Promotion, Mrs Rita Ilevbare, who coordinated the programme, called on magistrates to visit the prisons in their jurisdiction to see the need to comply with the provisions of the ACJA on the prompt dispensation of justice, particularly relating to the large number of awaiting trial inmates.
Ilevbare said, “The law stipulates a day-to-day trial of suspects. It does not allow for long adjournments with the purpose of reducing the number of inmates in prisons. The magistrates need to adhere to this.”
She said CLEEN Foundation was planning to open a Resource Centre on Corruption Cases in the state in August.
Ilevbare said, “At the centre, we want to keep laws, judgments and efforts of CLEEN Foundation concerning the ACJA for easy accessories by the general public.”
She described as worrisome the disclosure by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons that 53 Ekiti indigenes had been rescued from different parts of the world.
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