Decongesting Prisons Through Efficient Justice Delivery

It is a truism that justice fosters good relationship among men, especially on issues that relate to economy, politics and social matters.

The absence or abuse of it invariably breeds anarchy and disorder; hence every society strives to enhance its administration.

In Nigeria, incidents of delayed trial and prison congestion have elicited comments from citizens, who view the development as negating effective justice delivery.

Often, criminal cases are poorly investigated, resulting in suspects being locked up for long periods while awaiting trial. Incessant adjournment in the courts is also another source of concern.

Analysts and stakeholders within the judicial system adduce diverse and varied reasons for the problem, just as a multiplicity of solutions has been proffered.

They say that the bar, bench and the security services, share blame in the problem, though in varying degrees.

Mr. Justice Agwu Kalu, a judge in Abia State says that remand of suspects for long periods without court orders is worrisome, stressing that extant laws are very clear on such issues.

“The constitution does not allow unlawful detention of suspects. Where detention is imperative because of peculiar circumstances, the security services must apply for permission, through ex-parte motion in the court.

Recent data from the Nigeria Prison Service indicates that about 60 per cent of in-mates in the nation’s prisons are awaiting trial and this is unsettling to many citizens, especially relations of suspects.

Kalu, as other Nigerians, advises that the Police and the office of Public Prosecution should be more responsive to this problem.

“The way some of these suspects languish in the jails gives the impression that they are already judged as guilty even before trial is concluded and this is unfortunate. All suspects must be seen as innocent until convicted by the court,” says Jimoh Adebayo, a human rights activist.

According to Adebayo, delayed trial leads to prison congestion, which is a commonplace in most of our prisons today.

However, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in Abia, Mr Ugochukwu Nwachukwu, blames trial delays on the fact that over 75 per cent of criminal cases in the courts are not properly investigated by the Police.

He believes that the little period allowed by the constitution for suspects to be remanded in Police custody limits the capacity of the police to do thorough job.

Nwachukwu says that unnecessary adjournments and wrong attitude by some witnesses are also to blame for the problem.

“Some give their names to the police for proof of evidence, but will refuse to come to the court to give such evidences,” he laments.

Kalu thinks that DPPs should sit up and ensure that senior counsels are assigned murder cases, so as to avoid incidents of “unseriousness” on the part of some junior lawyers.

Nwachukwu agrees, admitting that many state counsels are not truly committed to their work, stressing that “we assign cases to the lawyers willing to work”.

He also chides the courts for poor administrative processes, pointing out that “administrative bottlenecks do exist as hearing notices are not properly given some times”.

“It is the duty of the judiciary to transmit hearing notices to us, but ironically they do not get to us most times. We filed about 55 notices to the court between January and July this year, but only about 10 have been replied,” he says.

A senior security officer who pleads anonymity says that delays in the transmission of case files from their end is not deliberate, adding that there is serious constraint of time needed for investigations.

“When the period allowed by the constitution to detain a suspect is that short, there is the inevitability of shoddy work,” he stresses.

“Murder cases can take up to six months to investigate, while autopsy is a serious business for which doctors charge so much and not many families can afford to pay the bills.”

“Certain cases are treated with dispatch, but another problem is the lack of votes to run our offices. More often, I spend my personal money. Our investigation department does not have typewriters, photocopiers and other office equipment,” the security official points out.

M rs C. Ononye, State Comptroller of the Abia Comma nd of the NPS says that her officers do contend with a multiplicity of logistic problems, which are not helping efficiency.

“We have only seven vehicles to convey inmates to the 94 courts in the state. Three of the vehicles convey inmates to 38 courts in Aba area alone,” she laments.

She discloses that prisons in the state have exceeded their capacities by about 50 per cent, aside from the lean staff available.

Ononye pleads with the state government to come to the command’s assistance, especially when most of the inmates are citizens of Abia.

On his part, Mr Charlse Ajagba, Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Isiala Ngwa South Branch, says that judges, magistrates and court officials jointly make the administration of justice difficult.

“The courts do not sit early enough as most judges come to the courts from 10 am. Any complaints by us can be held against you when they have the opportunity to humiliate you,” he says.

Another lawyer, Hilary Chuwuemeka, observes that the criminal justice administration in Abia for instance, needs improvement, while the judges must work harder than they are presently doing.

Abia’s Chief Judge, Mr Justice Sunday Imo, emphasises the need for the government to assist the prison service with more vehicles, so as to enhance their efficiency.

“There is the need to make the administration of justice efficient because, if inmates are not properly treated, they will hold it against the society. When they come out from prison, they will be worse than they came and can even seek revenge against the society.

“The time has come for us to put our feet on the ground because some people charged with the administration of justice are not willing to work; they are destroying criminal cases because of their incompetence,” he says.

Imo stresses that the practice of remanding in prison custody, suspects who are still under investigation should be stopped, while any eventual remand in police custody must be backed by a court order.

According to him, “magistrates and all officers charged with the administration of justice should restrain themselves from all the things that they do not have the right to do”.

Nwachukwu, on his part wants criminal cases to be treated with dispatch, just as is done to civil cases, while also suggesting that different days should be set aside by judges to hear criminal cases.

He says that lumping the hearing of civil and criminal cases together is not helpful as it is always at the expense of criminal cases.

Observers point out that all persons involved in judicial administration must be up and doing since it is always the unfortunate suspects that bear the brunt of their lapses.

Emmanuel Acha