CONVERGENCE OF LAW AND TECHNOLOGY. IN what one may aptly describe as Flying Steps in Modernization, the Court of Appeal of Nigeria under its current leadership has mustered the gumption to institute a comprehensive modernization of its existing operational system in a groundbreaking way that blends judicialism and technology. The bid, if and when sustained, not only underlines the vision which the Nigerian Judiciary aspires but also will transfer from vision to reality, the long-awaited reform in the country’s justice sector which committee after committee have advocated and proposed. Appellate e-filing will arrive in Nigeria before end of 2013, when a revision to the appellate rules will make it mandatory for attorneys to file an electronic copy of all appellate briefs, no-merit reports and petitions for review. E-filing will be accomplished using the online electronic filing system developed for the appellate courts. The First version is to be as a test Pilot Project for Lagos Divisions. Expected adjustments under the new rules; the filing of an electronic copy of all briefs, no-merit reports, and petitions for review (and responses thereto) will be made mandatory for attorneys. Under the new rules, e-filed documents must be in Portable Document Format (PDF). The courts database on electronic are available to the public online, and it will prove extremely useful to attorneys doing research on Nigeria law. The system will permit the user to search the database for particular terms or phrases and their connotations. The Court of Appeal will also develop and implement a second phase of automation. This phase will encompass the following elements: (a) Electronic Dissemination of Orders, Notices, and Opinions, (b) Electronic Filing of Notices, Motions, and other Documents, (c) Implement interface between trial courts and appellate courts, (d) Electronic payment of appellate filing fees. The Nigeria Court of Appeal, online appeal filling system is an essential component of the strategic plan for technology for the Court. The said e-filing is to transform the COURT OF APPEAL from a paper-based process to an electronic environment, where interactions occur via Internet or automated voice-response with improved servicing timeframes; e-filing system will be used by 90% of court staff and Judicial Officers and will transform the way all cases are received, adjudicated, communicated and dispositioned. This will significantly improve the quality of justice rendered in Nigeria’s trial courts by providing attorneys, judges and litigants with visibility and access to case information across all Nigerian courts. Highlights of the System: •Institutional filers (Lawyers etc.) transmit directly from their computer systems. •Attorneys can file via Internet, tablets or kiosks. •Case records stored electronically. •Nigeria Appeal court can be accessed 24x7 from any location accessible through the Internet. •Attorneys, litigants, justice partners, judicial officers and court staff can search across all case types for all Nigeria courts at the push of a button •Better information drives more-informed decisions and reduces the risk of conflicting orders. •E-Filler can track, get court notices, and hearing dates over e-Filling court portal. The giant stride was brokered with the recent weeklong study visit to the United Kingdom by a delegation of the Justices of the Court under the headship of the Court’s acting president, Justice Zainab Adamu Bulkachua. I have had the privilege to witness or even been a part of a couple of such visits by officials of the Nigerian government, but I must admit, for reasons not far-fetched, that the present was one with a difference. It was one imbued with pertinence, vigour and sincerity of purpose; and I demonstrate how and why it was so: Firstly, the study programme was tailored along the fundamental principles of modern judicial governance, drawing principally on the experiences of the UK judicial reform with concentrations on innovative use of technology in whole gamut of judicial practice, modern skills for appellate judges and strategy for development and change management. The fact that Nigerian judicial system is no more than a colonial transplantation whose roots lie in the English legal traditions makes those experiences and lessons easily adaptable and transferrable to Nigeria. Secondly, the programme featured un- imaginable stretch of vigorous activities made up of training sessions, roundtable discussions, field trips and an academic seminar which were hosted at the UK Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the Subordinate Courts at the Royal Courts of Justice and the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London which addressed key issues of modernization. The wisdom for concentrating on the aforementioned courts, I feel was because of the inevitable linkages, horizontally and vertically between the Court of Appeal and these courts and was intended to produce and indeed produced the desired outcomes. The various sessions themselves offered a fine spectacle. Equipped with note pads and pens, the drive and motivation of the participating justices was not only to learn, but to contribute, inquire and challenge to such a level that resource persons spilled more than was intended. Finally, and I believe, another purposeful component of the study visit was an academic seminar on “Modernizing Nigerian Judiciary” hosted by the School of Oriental and African Studies which was attended by who is who in the school of law as well senior Nigerian lawyers and researchers. The lead presentation was made by the Acting President of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria in which the presenter discussed core issues in the current operational context of the Court of Appeal and perhaps more importantly, made a case for the integrity and independence of Nigeria’s judiciary, which picturesquely reassured the audience and skeptics alike. I said so because there are many in Nigeria and abroad who perceive the Nigerian judiciary as a dysfunctional institution that merely genuflects the executive and legislative arms. Subsequent presentations especially those made by Dr. Gunnar Beck and Dr. Barrie Nathan, both of the School of Law as well as the comments, challenges and suggestions thereon have helped to midwife modern methods and approaches to modernization and sustainability. I conclude by saying that, from what I have witnessed during the study visit; the entire exercise was a worthwhile one and I sincerely hope that the appropriate Nigerian authorities would support the Court of Appeal in its modernization process.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 06:26:17 +0000
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