THIS DAY
President of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (CSLS), Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George (SAN) has called on the incoming administration to give priority to the appointments of judges of the appellate courts in order to restore the hope of the common man in the country’s justice system.
Akinseye-George, a professor of public law, said one of the major problems facing the country today is the persistent issue of delay in justice delivery, which according to him, is the mother of criminality which in turn breeds impunity.
He made the call recently at a two-day training/seminar for young lawyers on the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.
The senior lawyer said making the issue of rotation of political offices constitutional would create a sense of belongingness among Nigerians and at the same time eradicate the hopelessness said to be responsible for the current desperation by politicians.
He, therefore, said the in-coming government should take urgent action to reduce the problem of delay in justice delivery.
As an immediate step, the law scholar explained that it should consider “urgently filling the vacancies in the appellate courts, introducing technology to do away with the archaic system of manual writing by judges, abolishing de novo trials, improve the working conditions of judges and prescribing a maximum timeline for the conclusion of court cases.
“Such time limits should not be limited to only Election cases. These and other urgent measures are needed to restore the hope of the common man in the justice system.
On the issue of zoning, Akinseye-George observed that if there were any major lessons to be learnt from the recent general elections, is that rotation of elective offices must no longer be left to the whims and caprices of politicians.
According to him, the recent elections were highly divisive; reopened old wounds and rekindled primordial and parochial tendencies which may endanger the country’s democracy, if not carefully addressed.
To this end, Akinseye-George disclosed that the centre would work with like-minded Nigerians to propose amendments to the constitution on rotation of major political offices at all levels.
“The practice of electing political officers by rotation must be entrenched in the Constitution. Our Centre intends to work with like-minded Nigerians to propose amendments to the Constitution on Rotation of major political offices at all levels.
“All zones, and sections of this country and of every state and every community must be given a sense of belonging as equal owners of the Nigerian space.
“Hopelessness breeds desperation. Every community must have the hope that one day it will be their turn to produce the president, governor, senator, etc,” he said.
