LAGOS JUSTICE SECTOR AND SOCIAL EVOLUTION
Rasak Musbau
Vital reforms that the Lagos State justice system has experienced over the years are partly responsible for the steady progress the state has been making since 1967. There is virtually no emerging issue bordering on development without the State Ministry of Justice playing a touch bearing role; this is because most of our lives and interactions with each other are regulated by law.
The State’s Ministry of Justice has contributed to Lagos enviable position as the vanguard of Good Governance, Rule of Law and Constitutionalism in the country through legislative initiatives, law reforms, law and order initiatives and provision of legal services to Government’s Ministries/Departments/Agencies, MDAs.
Perhaps, the only reason why Lagos success story has not been told from the justice sector contributions’ perspective could only be from the reality in our clime where yardstick for measuring government’s achievements is largely based on infrastructure development. Meanwhile “restless engines’’ that service the vehicles which ensure the State’s race to actualize its optimal potential reside and work from the Ministry of Justice. People pay tax, which is the golden key to Lagos economic development because the law demands they do such. Physical and Social Infrastructure development, Environment, Health, Business Investment, Education and transformation in Tourism etc all have an input from the justice sector.
Since the current democratic dispensation in 1999, top priorities given to justice sector by successive governments in the State have contributed, in no small measures, to the growth and development of the state. For instance, the Justice Sector Reform Programme of the Tinubu administration between 1999 and 2007 drew substantially from the recommendations of the Justice Committee, which centered around its vision that ‘administration of justice system in Lagos State must be impartial, efficient, pro-active, well-remunerated, merit driven, corruption-free, technologically up-to-date, affordable and adequately resourced.
Poised to uphold the rule of law in a highly populated and multi-religious metropolis, theTinubu administration reviewed military edicts, following the unconstitutional provisions in the decrees promulgated by the then Federal Military Government for nationwide application. This was in addition to the review of bye-laws. A full-fledged Directorate for Citizens’ Rights in the Ministry of Justice, with departments like Office of the Public Defender (OPD) and the Human Rights Protection Unit (HRPU) were created to offer free legal services in civil and criminal matters to the poor and the vulnerable.
Other justice sector reform initiatives of the Tinubu administration included the reform of the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Laws; Court Automated Information System; Criminal Case Tracking System, CCTS; Activation of Coroner’s Inquest and the Review of the Coroner’s Law and Creation of the Citizen’s Mediation Centre. In World Bank’s Doing Business 2007, Nigeria was listed as one of the 24 countries that made positive reforms in registering property. This was due substantially to the registry reforms in Lagos State.
The critical agenda of justice sector reform also continued under the regime of Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN between 2007 and 2015. OPD under the administration ensured that no one is defenseless irrespective of whatever part of the country they come from, whatever language they speak and whatever level of their means. The immediate former governor ensured that Ministry of Justice was optimally used to engineer myriad of laws that addressed various problems that stood in the way of the state’s progress.
In the past two years of the Ambode administration, which seems like eight years, the Ministry of Justice has been unrelenting in implementing programmes that give the people of Lagos State greater access to justice while reforming and improving the justice sector.
The establishment of mobile courts is one of the novel means through which the Ambode administration is ensuring quick dispensation of justice in the state. The courts were inaugurated to summarily try traffic as well as environmental offenders and mete out immediate punishments to those convicted. This is also a way to decongest the courts and not add to inconclusive cases that have been in courts for years. Since it began operations in March, 2016, a total of 4, 426 offenders have so far been arraigned as at last Month whilst series of enlightenment campaigns have been carried out to make residents aware of the need to obey traffic rules and keep environment safe and secure. In essence, anywhere problem of traffic gridlock is solved, justice sector plays a huge role.
In line with the commitment of the state government to provide adequate support to the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) on its mission to ensure that tax payers comply with tax laws and ensure full tax compliance through prosecution of defaulters, the Rapid Tax Prosecution Unit was set up at the Ministry of justice. This has ensured some level of compliance with tax defaulters approaching LIRS to offset their outstanding tax liabilities.
Also, the state government has created an online platform where the Laws of Lagos State could be easily accessed. Not only will this platform enables investors to make informed decisions about investing in the State, it will further help them to appreciate the various legal protections available for their persons and investment. This is particularly a reflection of the commitment to drive the administration of justice in the state through innovation and technology.
To combat criminal tendencies, the state government now has a Crime Data Register (CDR). CDR is an electronic repository of information about suspects and offenders who pass through any of the prisons in Lagos State. Similarly, the State’s Anti Land Grabbing Law reflects the thinking of the state government in using the instrumentality of the law to reduce the stress that Lagos residents pass through in the hand of land speculators. Interestingly, the state government is poised to enforce the anti-land grabbing law against anyone found wanting, no matter how highly placed in the society. This, no doubt, is good for the society.
Similarly, in an effort to eliminate cases where criminals escape justice due to non-availability of facilities to conduct forensic tests and keep records, the state government has concluded arrangement to commission a DNA Forensic Centre in the state. The centre, which is to address the urbane nature of crimes in the state is equally meant to fulfill an unmet need for DNA profiling, a forensic technique that is now used worldwide. It is also expected to gear towards enabling proper investigation, prosecution of crimes, adjudication and the administration of justice in the State.
Surely, we cannot definitely affirm that the state has reached Eldorado in terms of adherence to law and order. What is, however, obvious is that business activities thrive better in an atmosphere devoid of chaos. This can only be achieved when appropriate laws that reflect true democracy are put in place. This explains the several reforms of the Lagos State Government in the justice sector since 1999.
