The Magistrates Association of Nigeria (MAN), Enugu State chapter, has called for a review of its jurisdiction, to align with current realities.
This was disclosed in Enugu on Thursday at an advocacy meeting between the association and the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr Kingsley Udeh, held the Ministry of Justice Headquarters, Enugu.
Speaking during the meeting, the Chairman of the Association, Mr C.K.C. Idu, thanked the commissioner for granting them the opportunity to interact with him.
Idu enumerated their challenges to include contradictions and lacunae in the Magistrate Court Law, as well as Criminal Code, and Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL).
He, however, advocated for the amending of the affected laws to address the identified lacunae, which would aid the effective administration of law and justice, as well as enhancing peace and security in the State.
He said that other challenges are limited jurisdiction vested on the Magistrate Courts, which overloads the State High Court with cases that could have been handled at the Magistrate Court.
The Magistrates therefore called for the review of their jurisdiction to align with current realities and what was obtainable in other states, such as Lagos, Delta, Anambra, among others.
“Other challenges are harassment of court bailiffs who are carrying out lawful execution of court process or order and insufficient courtrooms for court sittings, noting that the lack of courtrooms reduces productivity and output, as some magistrates sit for just three hours in a day to make way for other magistrates to sit.
While responding to some of the challenges, the Attorney-General assured them of his support in the pursuit of their duties.
He, however, advised the Association to come up with an action plan which would identify the problems and challenges, suggest solutions, the timelines for implementing the solutions, and those responsible for the implementation.
Udeh assured them that the Gov. Peter Mbah-led administration, through the Ministry of Justice, had concluded the review of bills to amend the Magistrate Court Law, Criminal Code and the ACJL, which would soon be presented to the House of Assembly for passage.
He also disclosed that the present administration is working towards modernizing and equipping the courts for speedy justice delivery.
