Anambra government calls for effective justice delivery system following the review of procedure

A call has been made for stakeholders in the Justice sector to evolve acceptable rules of proceedings that will ensure efficient and effective functioning of courts.

Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State made the call while addressing a two-day public summit on the review of civil procedure rules for courts, organised by the Anambra State Judiciary in Onitsha.

He said the synergy between the Executive and Judicial arms of government in the state led to many landmark changes in the system of Justice Administration, as well as working condition of judicial officers in the state.

The governor who was represented by Solo Chukwulobelu, the secretary to the state government, hailed Peter Umeadi, the chief judge, for kick-starting the positive initiative.

He, then, described as apt the process that would lead to total overhaul of the rules governing Civil Procedure of various cadres of courts in the area.

Earlier, Umeadi had observed that the rules of courts had become obsolete, necessitating the setting up of various review committees to look into them.

He extolled the committees for coming up with draft documents that would be subjected to public scrutiny before being adopted as rules of procedure for all courts in the state.

“The rules being reviewed are the High Court Rules (2006), Anambra State Magistrate Court Rules (1991) and the Rules Establishing the Anambra State Multi-Door Court House,’’ he said.

According to Umeadi, the dynamism of the law will not allow its rules of practice to be latent.

He explained that participants at the summit had the opportunity to make comments and suggestions in areas they did not agree with recommendations of the committees.

“All of which will be reflected in the final draft that will ultimately become the rules of procedure for courts in Anambra State,’’ Umeadi said.

Some of the key areas that engaged the attention of participants were issues of enhanced court fees, summary trials, granting of adjournments, probate matters, preliminary objections, pre-trial conferences, Alternative Dispute Resolution, ADR, mechanisms.

Arthur Obi-Okafor, SAN, a resource person, advocated for synergy between the regular courts and the multi-door courts, to ensure that judicial officers were bound to enforce the ADR reached at the Multi-Door Court House.

Ngozi Oyeka, the chairman of the Planning Committee, re-assured that all the views expressed by members of the public would be collated and put into a working document.

– Dec. 4, 2018 @ 17:25 GMT |