Ogun CJ discloses plan to remodel justice delivery system amid COVID-19

Ogun State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Akingbolahan Adeniran (SAN), has said that the legal sector in the state is strategising on the appropriate model law to accelerate justice delivery during and after COVID-19 pandemic.

Fagbohunlu, who stated this during a virtual workshop with the theme: “Civil Justice Reform: Imperatives During and After COVID-19” organised in collaboration with the CRID-LawNet and Justice Reform Project said it was imperative to reopen the courts after the lockdown but with a determination to reform the civil justice system.

In attendance were Akwa Ibom State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Uwemedimo Nwoko; the CRID-LawNet President, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo (SAN); the convener, the Justice Reform Project, Mr. Yemi Candide Johnson (SAN); Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Justice C.C. Nweze; CRID-LawNet Trustee, Dr. Tunde Ajibade (SAN) and a partner in Stewart, an international law firm that recently conducted a remote virtual hearing in the Commercial Court in England, Mr. Daniel Wilmot.

The Ogun CJ said the workshop was organised to discuss on distant remote hearing of time-bound cases filed during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as making sure the disease does not paralyse the administration of justice.

Also, Oyetibo said the workshop was put together by a governmental advocacy group, which is devoted to the promotion of best practices in the resolution of commercial disputes and regulatory issues.

He noted that the group had collaborated to promote civil justice development and to ensure that the administration of civil disputes be treated efficiently and economically.

For Candide Johnson (SAN), the primary impediment in this particular emergency is that people cannot gather together in close proximity. That public health imperative means that we have to find solutions to essential services notwithstanding and therefore this is the birth of a remote hearing.