Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Access to Justice is pleased to announce the promulgation of new Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009, signed into law by the Hon. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Hon. Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi GCON on the 11th November 2009, pursuant to powers conferred upon him by section 46 (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. The rules came into effect on December 1, 2009.
The new Rules are the outcome of advocacy efforts by Access to Justice and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to improve the system for the enforcement of human rights in Nigeria. Access to Justice is proud to have been a major catalyst for this groundbreaking reform which will change the landscape of human rights litigation in Nigeria.
Some features of the new Rules
The new rules dispense with locus standi requirements in public interest litigation; specify that comparative law and jurisprudence of human rights shall be applicable in Nigerian courts, and runs on time-saving case management procedures (frontloading). They prioritize the objective of winning justice over the formalisms of procedure; enhance and expand access to courts for poor litigants seeking to enforce their rights (filing fees in most cases will be less N1000, i.e. $7 ); underscores the court’s obligation to “proactively pursue enhanced access to justice for all classes of litigants, especially the poor, the illiterate, the uninformed, the vulnerable, the incarcerated and the unrepresented”; and assures a prompt and expeditious dispensation of justice in human rights cases.
Other highlights include the removal of processes known to cause long delays; the assertion of the priority and precedence of all human rights cases over the daily business of the court; the simplification of the enforcement of human rights procedure for litigants and the removal of duplicate procedures such as requiring leave before the enforcement of rights.
As part of our public service obligations, Access to Justice has placed the text of the new rules on its website accesstojustice-ng.org (for reference or download). We use this medium to thank all those who worked with us and the NBA since 2007 to bring about these reforms - the activists, human rights groups, lawyers, judges, consultants and donor groups who helped us achieve the outcome. Thank you all.
Edem Andah,
Legal Programme Attorney
