By Jacinta Nwachukwu
An NGO, Public and Private Development Centre, has underscored the importance of using virtual court proceedings for justice administration among pre-trial detainees.
Mr Joshua Uba and Kwapaya Adamu, both of the PPDC’s Legal Unit, expressed this view during the Criminal Justice Cohort, four-day Second Regional Conference on Administration of Criminal Justice in Abuja.
In their presentations, the duo stated that using virtual court proceedings would save time and enhance justice.
Uba particularly said that currently, through the help of the centre, the administration of criminal justice system in Nasarawa, Plateau and Kaduna states had been greatly enhanced, swift and faster.
According to him, inmates now have their days in court as regularly as possible.
“The judges have more judgments to turn over and have the benefit of video playback of court proceedings as many times as they may desire.
“With the extant provisions of both extant statutory and case laws, the PPDC-pioneered Administration of Criminal Justice and the legality of virtual court proceedings in those states are certain and unquestionable,” he said.
Uba therefore, called on the government, private and corporate bodies as well as more philanthropic organisations to key into this and make available more virtual courts in the country.
According to him, one of the greatest gifts to an inmate is to have his day in court and his fate determined justly and timeously.
On her part, Adamu noted that with virtual court proceedings, time for trial of cases that unnecessary took long time for reasons out of the control of judges/magistrates would reduce.
She said it was necessary to key into this because, in their findings, the courts were over-worked, especially the magistrate courts, as some of them could have over 30 cases a day and manage up to 500 cases at a time.
“The judges and magistrates were all using long hands to conduct proceedings and, of course, suffered from fatigue and other stress-induced illnesses.
“They were also facing the challenge of inadequate operational vehicles to convey inmates from the correctional centres to court, among other findings,” she explained.
Adamu, however, noted that one of the major challenges of virtual court proceedings was high cost of procuring and setting up standard virtual court facilities, especially with the fluctuation in the naira exchange rate.
She also mentioned poor and inefficient internet connectivity due to bad weather conditions or generally inadequate internet infrastructure and inadequate technical (ICT Knowledge) manpower of court staffers as part of the challenges.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that PPDC, an NGO promoting good governance, has a programme called ‘Access to Justice’, which uses technology to address delays in the administration of civil proceedings and criminal justice. (NAN)