A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Abubakar Mahmud SAN has lamented the lack of coherence in the use of technology in the administration of justice in the country.
Mahmud, who delivered a keynote address at the 2024 Law Week Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Kano with the theme “Turning Point” expressed the need to adopt the the positive aspects of technology in justice delivery especially in aspects of E-filing, digital case management and virtual courts on mobile applications.
He explained that technology is a necessary tool in the administration of justice but unfortunately the system still needs guidance and direction in becoming better.
“The challenge in Nigeria in my view is that we are still lacking in coherent policy guidance on the application of technology in our courts.
“And also, there is a lack of provision of sufficient resources. Much of the investment is procurement driven, not based on needs assessment or well-informed decision on appropriate or suitable technologies.
“The technologies are often not harmonized amongst the various courts to facilitate exchange of information or data.
“Vendors in many cases dump devices on the courts, some of which are hardly used but simply decorate the offices” he laments.
He further explained the inefficiency of the practitioners who need to be trained and retrained to meet with the modern challenges.
“There is also insufficient training of staff and judges. Changes brought about by new technology in the workplace require intense preparation and reorientation.
“Success often requires culture transformation. Often this is lacking. The courts also lack sufficient structures to consistently drive this transformation.
“Migrating from manual operations to automated operations or digital platforms requires expertise and appropriate skills. Our courts lack the requisite manpower to drive the use of technology in the court rooms.
“Whilst we have Directors of Litigation, or Director or Process, how many courts have Department or Director of Information Technology or Digital Transformation to oversee the implementation of digital justice delivery?” the legal expert asked.
However, he said, “In the area of criminal justice, technology mediation has raised a lot of concerns amongst scholars and human rights lawyers.
“Scholars point to the fact that technological developments far outpace the study on the effects of technology and therefore caution against rapid implementation of the technological innovations.
“Some scholars point to what is referred to as the ‘digital divide’ or the unequal access to digital skills and internet access and that technology is not gender neutral and therefore conclude that ‘digitally mediated justice will not automatically guarantee access to justice for all’” he said.
Declaring the Law Week open, the Kano state governor Abba Yusuf, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Aminu Abdussalam, expressed gratitude with the way the NBA has been supporting the judicial system in the state.
In a brief address, the NBA National President, Yakubu Maikyau said that there over 150,000 lawyers called to Bar in Nigeria, 128 branches of the NBA across Nigeria with Kano having two.
He also stated that they have three sections and are going to be having their first ever conference in the North in Kano in June.
The NBA has announced that it’s 2024 Annual SLP Conference will be coming up in June 2024 in Kano and the theme of the event will be “Administration Of Justice In Nigeria: Challenges And Reforms.