NAN-H-21
Judiciary
By Sandra Umeh
Lagos, Jan. 4, 2017 (NAN) Some Lagos-based lawyers on Wednesday called for an improved legal system in 2017, to enhance quick dispensation of justice.
The lawyers made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
The legal practitioner expressed optimism that the New Year would mark an improved legal system for the nation’s judiciary, devoid of corruption.
They urged judges, magistrates and all judicial officers to show more dedication and commitment to work to achieve the desired goal.
A rights activist, Mr Anthony Makolo, believed that the New Year would project more positive changes for the judiciary, especially in the area of adjudicating on cases of corruption.
“I am very optimistic that 2017 will mark a positive change in our country’s judiciary and also advance the concept of an incorruptible judicial system.
“I see the year marking a drastic turnaround from the era of frivolous applications and injunctions, to a more versatile and robust legal framework,’’ he said.
According to Makolo, the New Year must be a time of adequate commitment to duty for judicial officers who must ensure they dispense justice without fear or favour.
A Constitutional Lawyer, Mr Spurgeon Ataene, advised that there should be harmonious working relationship between members of the Bar and the Bench.
According to Ataene, where there exists an adequate understanding of the legal rules as well as the workings of the court, it will facilitate an improved access to justice.
He, therefore, urged legal practitioners to ensure that they lend support in uplifting the Nigerian legal system from its present position to a more admirable standard.
A social critic, Mr Ogedi Ogu, said the Nigerian legal system had come a long way from the period of the received English laws down to the various statutes of general applications.
According to him, there must be a provision for the phasing out of obsolete laws which now lacked direct bearing with our indigenous laws, so as to enhance our justice system.
He said that in the New Year, there should be the desire by judicial officers to clear all workloads in the courts, through dedication and hard work.
Ogu stressed the need for judicial support staff to effectively dispense their duties, especially in assigning suit numbers to cases and processes filed at the court’s registry. (NAN)
UNS/AJA
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(Edited by Adeleye Ajayi)