The Cleen Foundation has said that the implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) is a collective responsibility that must succeed and those responsible for its failure should be held responsible.
The Executive Director of the foundation, Dr. Benson Olugbuo, said this Friday in Abuja at the 5th National Project Working Group Meeting on promoting transparency and accountability in the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria.
According to him, the main actors within the Criminal Justice System, like prosecutors, the Courts, the Nigerian Correctional Service, Law Enforcement Agencies, defence lawyers, Director of Public Prosecutions, Investigators, Civil Society Organisations, Ministry of Justice, Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee, and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) among others should be held accountable to implement the law as it concerns their respective obligation under the law.
“Although the innovations proposed by the law do not quite match current realities, effective strategies must be sought out in a collaborative sense to ensure compliance, so that the objectives of the Act will be eventually realised. On the long thread of implementers and justice actors, every justice arm constitutes an integral part of the core, therefore if one part fails implementation will be slowed and challenged.
“If we must attain progressive efficiency in the dispensation of justice as envisaged by the Act, all concerned actors from each arm of the criminal justice system must be determined and work towards complying with the obligations vested on them by the law,” Olugbuo said.
Meanwhile, the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee (ACJMC), has nominated the Cleen Foundation, to represent Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the committee.
Daudu said that the nomination was in recognition of the efforts of the foundation towards the effective implementation of the ACJA in Nigeria and especially in the states where the law had been domesticated.
“This nomination is in recognition of the roles played by Cleen Foundation in training police officers, inaugurating resource centres for researchers. Also, the inauguration of an online criminal case archive platform for easy access to criminal cases, court judgments both for individuals and institutions,” he said.
He, however, advised the foundation to strengthen its capacity and monitoring ability by collaborating with the Federal Government and other relevant stakeholders in the criminal justice sector.
Responding, Olugbuo, expressed appreciation for the foundation’s nomination into the membership structure of the ACJMC in the ACJA.
On his part, Mr. Folarin Aluko, the Chairman, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Abuja chapter, lauded the efforts of the foundation, urging other groups to emulate and imbibe its methods and strategies.
The ACJA which was passed in 2015, was to promote speedy dispensation of criminal justice in Nigeria and it represents a radical shift from punitive to restorative justice, trying to balance the interest of victims, defendants and the society.
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