COVID-19: FCT judiciary begins virtual court proceedings

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on Tuesday began virtual proceedings via the use of Zoom, a video teleconferencing application.

During the virtual court proceedings monitored online by our reporter, the court had three sittings with Justices Salisu Garba, Hussein Baba-Yusuf and Peter Affen presiding in each of the sittings.

The regular sitting of the court had been hampered by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the several regulations issued by the government.

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As such, lawyers and other stakeholders in the justice sector have been suggesting new ways for the judiciary to perform optimally in the face of this novel coronavirus. The deployment of technology was one of the suggestions.

The Chief Judge of the court, Justice Ishaq Bello, after the virtual court proceedings, said it was such innovations that would help to redress some of the lapses in smooth justice delivery.

Justice Bello, who doubles as the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Correctional Reforms and Decongestion, added that the correctional service centres should be up and doing in providing standby generator sets not only for conducting proceedings but also for the wellbeing of the inmates.

“We should not project a defeatist attitude towards innovations. It is these innovations that will compel a redress of so many of these lapses.

“Because the moment we appreciate the value of this, the more we buckle up and tighten up to make sure the proper things are done,” he said.

To affect the smooth conduct of justice delivery efficiently, the CJ opine that proper investments in various sections either in investigations, prosecutorial, or adjudicatory must be addressed.

A lawyer, Emmanuel Ukaegbu, whose matter was heard in Justice Garba’s court expressed joy at the innovation which he said would help manage court proceedings and time too.

He called on his colleagues to key into this innovation which allows one to participate in court sitting wherever one may be.

Daily Trust reports that while the Borno State judiciary has also taken steps towards virtual proceedings during this pandemic, the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday still heard some matters in open court as it used to do before the pandemic; howbeit, with precautionary measures.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, in a circular on the website of the National Judicial Council, warned against the resumption of court sittings without guidelines and protocols in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.