Lawyer urges overhaul of Nation’s justice system
General National Politics

Lawyer urges overhaul of Nation’s justice system

By Our Correspondent

On Tuesday, a Lagos-based human rights campaigner, Mr Spurgeon Atatene described the Nigerian justice system as being faced with a myriad of problems, and consequently, called for an overhaul.

Ataene told newsmen in Lagos that impunity and disrespect for the rule of law were primarily responsible for the decadence in the justice sector.

He, however, said that sadly,  persons who were just, fair or concerned with respect for law and order in society today, often become antagonised.

“It is clear today that if you speak against injustice, you become antagonised and some of these antagonisms are carried out for inconsequential reasons; this is a big problem bedevilling society,” he said

According to Ataene, all hope is, however, not lost as things can still be made right if there is a total overhaul of the justice sector, to make the legal system conform with best practices.

“I still believe and hope that if the justice delivery system is overhauled, and justice stakeholders offer their opinion and transmit same to those who deliver justice, especially at the apex, then we may again be on the right track,” he said.

He also called out the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to live up to its responsibilities as a watchdog of the bar, rather than allowing itself to get “lost in the traffic of the office”.

He harped on the main task of the bench which should be focused on justice delivery, and must also be in tandem with what the NBA positioned itself to achieve in the legal .system.

“It is our collective duty to restore the glory of the judiciary and we must not shy from this responsibility,” he said.

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