Thursday, 17th
of October, 2019
The CLEEN
Foundation (formerly known as Centre for Law Enforcement
Education) is a non-governmental organization established in January
1998 with the mission of promoting public safety, security and accessible
justice through the strategies of empirical research, legislative advocacy,
demonstration programmes and publications, in partnership with government,
civil society and the private sector.
The
convening is coming at no better time than now when the process of
Administration of Criminal Justice in Nigeria is undergoing radical reformation
with the passage and implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice
Act (ACJA) 2015 being domesticated by states across the Federation. It is
important to note that about 26 states out of the 36 states of the Federation
have domesticated the ACJ Act.
Innovations of ACJA and Criminal Justice
Reform
The
areas of criminal justice process the ACJA seeks to improve include; Unlawful
Arrests, Notification of cause of arrest, Humane treatment of an arrested
Person and prohibition of arrest on civil cases, Mandatory Inventory of
Property, Recording of Arrest, Establishment of a Police Central Criminal
Records Registry (CCRR), others are; Electronic recording of confessional
statement, Recording of statement of suspect, Monthly report by Police to
supervising magistrate, Quarterly Report of arrests to the Attorney‐General of
the Federation, Returns by Comptroller‐General of Prisons, Right to
Bail , Women Sureties, Prosecution, Professional Bondsperson ,
Remand proceedings , Time protocol for remand orders, Guideline to
prevent abuses in Plea Bargain, Speedy trial, Time limit for issuance of legal
advice, Witness Protection, Electronic Record of proceedings, Compensation to
victims of crime, Non‐Custodial sentences, Service of Court processes by
Courier Companies etc
Despite
the passage of the Act, there still remain a gamut of constraints and
challenges affecting the criminal justice system and its actors/agencies which
put at risk the full and effective implementation of the ACJA 2015 and the
different ACJ Laws being implemented in most states where the Act has been
domesticated. Additionally, among the missing link is also limited knowledge of
efforts being undertaken and/or put in place to closely monitor the Criminal
Justice reform process, its actors/agencies and the fulfillment of their roles
under the Act.
It
is against this background that through the support of the Partners Global, the
CLEEN Foundation and EDOCSO has convened a state working group on the implementation of ACJ Law towards a concerted effort to
reduce corruption in the state and Nigeria at large. Through this convening, we
will identify government institutions, Civil Society Organizations, Media and
other relevant partners that would assist in advancing the effective
implementation of the ACJL in Edo state.
The
objectives are to obtain a status update on the ACJL implementation in the
state; provide an immediate opportunity for CLEEN and EDOCSO to gain traction
on our advocacy; and establish a multi-stakeholder working group in Edo state
on ACJL. Working group membership would include justice sector, public
institutions focused on anti-corruption as well as civil society organizations working
on justice sector issues. CLEEN and EDOCSO will lead the campaigns
through strategic decision making, while working with the group to undertake
the periodic implementation of our action plan, advocacy strategy and campaigns in the next
twelve months.
We
are persuaded that this convening will lay the foundation for more interactions
and collaborative relationship amongst stakeholders to advocate for the implementation
of ACJ Law and engender an effective implementation of the Criminal Justice
Reform process and ultimately improve the Administration of Criminal Justice and
the fight against corruption in Edo State.
I
will not end these remarks without thanking the Partners
Global- an organization with over 25 years experience at the forefront of civil
society capacity building and promotion of good governance, for their
support for this project and also you- the participants who in spite of the
your obvious busy schedule took out time to be here today, which shows the
seriousness you attach to the subject matter of the summit.
On
this note, I welcome you all and do hope we will have some meaningful
interactive experiences here today.
Thank
you all and may God bless Edo State and Nigeria.
Benson
Olugbuo, PhD
Executive
Director
CLEEN
Foundation
Abuja,
Nigeria