Prior
to the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) becoming a law in 2015,
Nigeria’s criminal justice system was largely governed by the Criminal
Procedure Act (CPA) applicable in the Southern Nigeria and the Criminal
Procedure Code (CPC) applicable in Northern Nigeria. Despite these legal
frameworks, the criminal justice system was faced with challenges related to
inefficiency and lack of effectiveness. This situation was compounded by delays
in trials and congested prisons just to mention a few. The need for effective
criminal justice reformsbecame evident in view of these challenges and
necessitated urgent actions and campaigns that led to the enactment of the ACJA-2015.
Till date, about fourteen (14) states have domesticated the law or tailored
their criminal justice laws to the ACJA with Enugu, Anambra, Oyo, Ondo, Lagos,
FCT, Kaduna, Ekiti as focal states for CLEEN Foundation.

To
foster collaboration among stakeholders across states in Nigeria and to ensure
effective ACJA implementation, CLEEN Foundation inaugurated the state working
group in Akure, Ondo state capital on the 19th March 2019. The meeting convenedselected
participants amongst whom were the judiciary staff, anti-graft agencies-
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices
And Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Ministry of Justice, security
agencies and the media.

Participants
at the event shared testimonies of how the ACJA project in their state has
contributed to improving the justice system in Nigeria. They pointed out how it has reduced corruption,
promoted transparency and accountability in the criminal justice system in
Nigeria. They pointed out that police prosecutors, the judges and
lawyers are now aware that corruption cases in Ondo are now being monitored by
NGOs and other stakeholders, therefore making them to avoid any form of
corruption.

Mrs.
Catherine Ogunjebi, legal practitioner, working with Ondo State Ministry of
Justice in her presentation shared how ACJA was adopted in Ondo State as the
Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) in December 2015.

Mr.
Gabriel Akinremi, CLEEN Foundation Senior IT Officer pointed out how digital
technology has helped in improving ACJA implementation in Nigeria. The project
through web and mobile-based platform (Uwazi) tracks court cases, such as
completed cases, court trials/proceedings, injunctions relating to corruption
cases, accountability and transparency in the administration of criminal
justice system in Nigeria.

The
platform enables court officials and stakeholders to scan, upload, publish
court documents and create a table of contents online making it possible for
the public to have access to the documents. This is with the aim to enhance
transparency and promote accountability in the criminal justice system in
Nigeria.

Some
recommendations made at the meeting include:

• The need for synergy among criminal justice
  actors to ensure that the ACJL is implemented and becomes very effective in the
  state.
• Need for advocacy and awareness of the ACJA
  and ACJL, and that should be done through Social orientation through radio talk
  show

•   
Capacity building on ACJL, especially, the Ondo State Police Command

•   
Tracking of all criminal cases in relations to ACJL