Programmes

THE CONTEXT OF AJ'S WORK

Systematized delays, for example, reflect a major symptom of these weaknesses. Long trial periods wear out users of the court system, increase access-to-justice cost, time and inconvenience beyond reasonable limits and clearly violate domestic and international standards of fair trial.

Impediments to easy access to justice have also increased over the years. Growing poverty, declining incomes, and soaring inflation continue to alienate a greater number of people from the justice system. More and more people are increasingly access to legal services, and more and more people find that litigations costs, including filing fees in courts of law have increased beyond their means.

Prolonged years of military rule in Nigeria has also had severe consequences particularly for judicial independence and the integrity of the judicial system. Successive military governments have systematically manipulated the Nigerian judiciary for self-serving purposes. The facility with which government maneuvers the judiciary to accomplish expediencies itself mirrors the institutional weakness of the judicial system's capacity to function efficiently, accountably and independently requires to be revitalized in order to preserve and defend the core values of democratic governance and to credibly guarantee the rights enshined in Nigeria's domestic Constitution as well as in other international and regional instruments to which Nigeria is a party.

These invidious intrusions into judicial independence, inattention to and inertness over mounting problems of judicial administration have considerably affected its capacity to meet the urgent needs of many who, of necessity, have to rely on it for support and redress. The judicial system will offer low back-up support for international investment or commerce in Nigeria and could largely disappoint those who rely on it for resolving important national problems, including questions related to human rights. The tendency therefore has been a widespread use of self-help effort amongst people (often resulting in mob violence), the use of extra-legal procedures for dispute settlement, an unattractive legal investment climate, and popular apathy to use of the legal system for asserting human or fundamental rights.