The administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee (ACJMC) in conjunction with Public Private Development Center (PPDC) have launched Kaduna state administration of criminal justice rules, criminal justice service charter and Standard Operating Procedure to improve access to justice in the state.
At the launch of the books in a Town Hall meeting held in Kaduna Tuesday, Dr John Omughele, who delivered the keynote address, said almost 70% of correctional center inmates are awaiting trials thereby putting more people in the facilities beyond their capacities. He said efforts needed to be made to find alternative ways of resolving disputes before going to the courts adding that the court should be the last resort after every other avenue have been fully exploited.
He said: “We’ve been concerned about improvements in justice delivery system, especially the criminal side. There are usually factors like detention of persons in correctional centers and other places such as EFCC, ICPC and police detentions. How quickly can the courts resolve cases even where detention is necessary. Also, is there a way that we can avoid detention considering the economic, security, health and human rights implications with so many people, almost 70% inmates, awaiting trials? Each time, we have 70% of the inmates awaiting trial.
“The solution lies with civil rule, administration of criminal justice law, putting time limit on doing certain things and constant appraisal of what we are doing and checking to see whether we need to make amendments. Should we continue to maintain some archaic laws and finding alternative ways of resolving disputes without formality of court proceedings and exploring other ways of resolving issues before going to court?”
