Poised to enhance administration and delivery of civil justice in Ogun, the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, on Wednesday, launched the Ogun State Civil Justice Transformation Lab Draft Strategy.
Speaking at the formal launch of the Draft Strategy held at the Obas’ Complex, Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, Abiodun noted that the new justice mechanism would lead to improved and effective dispute resolution and justice in the state.
He explained that the rationale behind the establishment of the Strategy is to ensure and maintain the vision of his administration of making Ogun the safest place to work, live and do business in the country.
He noted that efficient and effective administration of justice is an important pillar of access to justice and, by extension, a key indicator towards the ease of doing business in any society.
According to the governor, “it is when an enabling environment is created that businesses can thrive and new ones be attracted”.
Abiodun maintained that a people-centred approach to justice administration will facilitate equal access to justice for all, and create an enabling environment for both people and local businesses to thrive, adding ” to achieve this ideal, justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done. Indeed, a robust and easy access like we envisage under this programme becomes inevitable”.
“For us, the creation of the Ogun State Civil Justice Transformation Lab Draft Strategy will afford all of us the opportunity to identify the most pressing justice needs of our people and provide innovative strategies to resolve them. This is because we are aware that inability of citizens to have their justice needs effectively resolved will have a negative impact on their welfare as well as business growth and investment attraction in the society. Therefore, we are doing this in a bid to entrench user-friendly civil justice.
“As a matter of fact, the Ogun State Civil Justice Transformation Lab Draft Strategy will help to develop innovative and localized dispute resolution mechanisms. It will also aid the deployment of technology to complement the existing formal and institutional justice structures towards addressing the specific issues like land disputes, family conflicts and neighbourhood disagreements in Ogun State.
“It is remarkable that the civil justice transformation project is established at this time when the Ogun State Government has set up various initiatives and justice sector reforms to facilitate equal access to justice. These initiatives include amongst others: the development of a platform for effective case management and court scheduling to tackle delay in the administration of justice; the establishment of the Small Claims Court in Ogun state to provide easy access to informal, inexpensive and speedy resolution of simple matters to bring justice closer to the grassroots; the establishment of the Ogun State Public Interest Law Partnership (OPILP) which seeks to provide free legal services to indigent citizens in Ogun State; and, the Police Duty Solicitor Scheme (PDSS) which has attached private sector lawyers to every police station in Ogun state so as to review the conditions of detainees, monitor length of detention and link detainees without access to legal representation to lawyers through the OPILP, Citizens’ Rights Department or Legal Aid Council.
“All these are in addition to the establishment of the Violence Against Persons Management Committee (VAPMC) to oversee all efforts to combat sexual and gender-based violence, including domestic violence. This laudable initiative could not have come about without the successful collaboration of our partners, especially the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) who facilitated the Dialogue sessions at the Justice Transformation Lab, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their generous funding and all the participants at the Ogun State Civil Justice Transformation Lab”. Abiodun stated.
He expressed hope that the Strategy, when implemented, would address more effectively the justice needs of the people of Ogun, submitting “I have nstructed the Attorney-General to ensure that the document is widely disseminated to enable us develop the best possible document to serve the interest of the state”.
Earlier in his address, the Attorney-General and the Commissioner for Justice in the state, Gbolahan Adeniran, noted that without a sound justice system, plans and vision of the incumbent administration to deliver good governance would remain illusory. He added that to ensure effective delivery of good governance in the state, government must actively promote justice, equity, fairness, transparency, participatory and inclusive governance in which respect for the rule of law is considered fundamental. Adeniran, who said that his ministry sought the cooperation and support of the Hague Institute to enhance the administration of the civil justice system, as it has suffered neglect over the years when compared to efforts to reform the criminal justice system, submitted that “as a government, I believed it was important for us to address our dispute resolution system – that is, the speed and quality of the administration of civil justice in the state”.
