Tackling underfunding of the judiciary

Worried by the challenge of paucity of funds faced by institutions in the criminal justice sector, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and some stakeholders, recently made a case for increased funding of the sector.
KEHINDE OSASONA reports
Poser The need for an effective funding of the judiciary has continued to receive attention from stakeholders who believe government at all levels, need to do more.
The latest of such calls is coming from the Executive Secretary, Auwal Musa Rasfanjani, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre.
The outfit made a general case for proper funding of institutions in the criminal justice sector at a gathering in Abuja.
He spoke at the event tagged Criminal Justice (CRIMJUST) Project being implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in partnership with INTERPOL and TI, with support from the European Union.
Represented by CISLAC Director of Legal, Adesina Oke, Rasfanjani said the CRIMJUST project was aimed at strengthening institutional integrity and capacity of the three focus institutions; the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and the Federal High Courts.
While decrying the fact that patronage and political corruption undermine the criminal justice institutions and the rule law in the country, Oke noted that “the lack of adequate resources for institutions, especially those in the criminal justice system is sad reality.” Arguing further, he observed that there has been decrease in the budgetary allocation of the Police, NDLEA and the Judiciary in the last three years, saying the NDLEA budget in 2015 was 0.20 per cent of the national budget around N9 billion, 0.14 per cent in 2016 and around 0.12 per cent in 2017.
He said, for the Police, in 2015, its budget represents 7.16 per cent of the National Budget, noting that it was inadequate for a Force with personnel strength above 300,000.
“In the Judiciary in 2015, the budgetary allocation was 73 billion representing 1.62 percent of the national budget, in 2016 it dropped to 70 billion, 1.15 percent.
According to him, despite the amount being budgeted most times it is not released, especially for the Police and NDLEA, which are not in the first line charge.
NBA, CSOs too Corroborating CISLAC, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), equally urged the federal and state governments to provide appropriate funds that would improve the judiciary system.
Also speaking on findings on court observations on the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) by Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN), Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative in Lagos, Chairman, NBA, Ikeja branch, Prince Dele Oloke, said there is need for a symbiotic relationship between government and the judiciary that will lead to proper funding of the system to enhance transparency and accountability of justice in the country.
He said, “Government feels that they are not making money from the judiciary and that determines the limited resources put at their disposal.
“We at the bar fight everyday to preserve the sanctity of the bench.
But that is the level of what we are doing as a pressure group, the bottom line is that the president and governors decide on the amount of money and resources made available to the judiciary.” Complaining further, he observes that the country has a large population with lesser number of judges attending to hundreds of cases daily without appropriate facilities and equipment provided to ease the job, which reflects in the justice system.
“Lagos state alone has more that 50 million residents.
We have up to 70 judges in the court rooms and when a judge has more than 800 cases in his or her docket, and sits on an average of about 20 to 50 cases in a day, they are humans like us and also have their health, family challenges and societal expectations, how far do you think they can go?” he stresses.
Increasing investment in the judiciary While presenting the findings on the implementation of the ACJL in three states of Lagos, Ondo and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as well as recommendations, the Programme Manager, PWAN, Barbara Maigari said investing in the Nigerian judiciary is crucial for strengthening the democratic and development process as well as the judicial reforms in the country.
She says Lagos state, which has taken the lead on judicial reforms, should increase its investment in the magistrate courts by providing electronic equipment such as electronic recorders to handle the criminal cases, and also invest in building the capacity of the ACJL actors in the state in relation to implementation of the law.
She adds that there should be constructions of new court buildings, stressing that the exclusion of access by persons with disabilities to public buildings need to be addressed.
Mukhtar, Onnoghen’s concern The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, had while speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2018 orientation course for newly appointed magistrates at the National Judicial Institute in Abuja, with the theme, ‘Promoting judicial excellence in the administration of justice’ restated the problems of inadequate funding at state levels, which he described as one of the greatest challenges confronting the nation’s judiciary.
Onnoghen, who also made a case for a judiciary free from interference by the two other arms of government, said how free and democratic a nation was could be determined by what powers a nation conceded to the judiciary.
Represented by a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Kumai Akaahs, the CJN explained that his administration was making effort to reform the judiciary in order to promote excellence in the administration of justice, and tackle challenges, which includes underfunding.
He said, “the issue of inadequate funding at the state level is one of the greatest challenges confronting the judiciary of this nation.
“These challenges include inadequate funding of manpower development and inadequate facilities, among many others.
Therefore, in promoting excellence in the administration of justice, it is of utmost importance to tackle the challenges facing your courts.” While addressing a special court session for the Supreme Court’s new legal year in 2013, Justice Mukhtar raised the alarm that the Judiciary was under threat, not only that, she also complained about the poor budgetary allocation of the judiciary in the country.
According to Mukhtar, there was decline in the allocation from N75 billion in 2012 to N67 billion in 2013, fearing that it was beginning to assume the pattern of a plot to incapacitate an arm of the government.
She said:”Over the years, funding of the courts has remained a challenge as evidenced in the condition of many courts in Nigeria today.
“Statistics have shown that funding from the Federal Government has witnessed a steady decline since 2010 from N95 billion in that year to N85 billion in 2011, then N75 billion in 2012 and dropped again in the 2013 budget to N67 billion.
“In some cases, the court buildings do not possess the required well-equipped library for judges to conduct their research.
This may make judges rely on information supplied by lawyers, which should not be the case.” Blueprint recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari last year proposed N100 billion for the Judiciary in the 2018 budget proposal /Appropriation sent to the National Assembly for passage.
However, stakeholders opined that in identifying key areas of need, capable of impacting most on the sector, to which funds should be directed, government must strive to increase the sector funding of the third arm of government for effective service delivery