Latest News | News Break Nigeria A judge in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Justice Ishaq Bello, on Wednesday advocated the need for adequate funding of expenses incurred by state’s witnesses in criminal cases to attend court in criminal proceedings. The judge, who spoke in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the two-day the National Stakeholders’ Meeting on the Administration of Criminal Justice Bill, 2013, said many criminal cases had been bungled because adequate provisions were not made for witnesses to attend court. He said, “As much as we are desirous to provide adequately for protection of witnesses, we must provide adequately for the payment of transport fare of witnesses of the state. “A lot of cases are lost because the witnesses are not there.” The judge is the Chairman of the Panel on Implementation of Justice Reform set up by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke. The PIJR is to ensure the passage of Administration of Criminal Justice Bill (2013). Justice Bello advocated the need for such fund to be kept in the custody of the various courts so that it could be easily disbursed to witnesses. He also called on the National Assembly to appreciate the need for such fund in the budget proposals of the judiciary. He said, “It is obedience of witness summons that will bring witness to court. Therefore, for the fund to reside in the Ministry of Justice is an anomaly. “The Senate and the House of Representatives should be able to understand the need to accept the budgetary proposals from the judiciary in respect of these funds.” The meeting was convened to enable stakeholders deliberate further on the recommendations made at the Senate’s public hearing on the bill. Already the bill has been passed by the House of Representatives. President, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies and member PIJR, Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George (SAN), called for improvement of the bill, saying, “although many observers of criminal justice system have hailed the bill as the most significant attempt to reform and unify the systems of criminal procedure in this country since independence.”
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 18:24:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015