Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
The Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) and the Justice Development and Peace Caritas (JDPC), Onitsha, have charged stakeholders including civil society organisations (CSOs), media practitioners lawyers and community leaders to take an active role in ensuring the effective implementation of the Anambra State Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL), 2022.
They made the call during a one-day awareness workshop organised by JDPC, Onitsha, in collaboration with RoLAC Anambra as part of the Programmes implemented by International IDEA supported by the European Union.
The workshop was aimed at educating the non-state actors on provisions of the ACJL and their role in promoting its implementation for improved justice delivery.
It afforded participants the opportunity to share their experiences with various actors in the justice sector including the police, the Ministry of Justice, the lawyers and other law enforcement agencies.
Speaking at the event, RoLAC State Coordinator, Josephine Onah, emphasised the need for collective action. She urged all stakeholders to collaborate and ensure that RoLAC’s substantial investment in the state justice sector yields tangible results.
“In criminal justice, it commences from the police and gets to the prison. So, everybody including traditional rulers, presidents-general, lawyers, civil society activists, journalists and many others should be involved. We must all understand the law and comply with it.
“We want the CSOs to monitor implementation. We want people to go to the heads of various criminal agencies to say we have been able to observe this and your agency is not getting this right. To do things differently, it is important for us to understand our roles in getting the people to implement laws effectively,” she appealed.
Also, Dr. Mike Anyadiegwu, a chief Magistrate, urged the non-state actors to take advantage of innovations contained in the ACJL 2022, which are meant to address all obstacles to speedy dispensation of justice in the area.
Anyadiegwu said the law now permits police officers who are not lawyers to prosecute offenders in courts, while also giving vigilante operatives the power of arrest just like any other private citizen of Nigeria.
“However, a vigilante does not have power to detain anybody in their custody. They are to be arrested and handed over to the police. The law prohibits arrest in lieu and arrest over contractual wrongs.”
“ACJL 2022 also seeks to reduce the number of awaiting trial inmates even as it provides for a central criminal registry to track down serial offenders. Unfortunately, this is not yet in place.
“Under the law, victims of crime are now compensated while the offenders face the penalties. In section 177 (3), jumping bail is no longer attractive. The law says trial should continue and judgment delivered in the absence of the accused.”
Earlier, Secretary, Anambra State Justice Sector Monitoring Committee, Rose Okeke, who represented its Chairman and the Chief Judge of Anambra State, Justice Onochie Anyachebelu, regretted that prior to the law, administration of criminal justice in Anambra had been slow in the state as different agencies kept passing the buck to each other.
She called on the stakeholders to double their efforts at ensuring that the law is effectively put to good use in the state.
