The Federal Government, on Thursday, announced that it had drafted legislation aimed at ensuring that most cases in the country are concluded at the Court of Appeal.
This initiative aims to lessen the workload of the Justices at the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court is battling with a heavy backlog of appeals.
At the opening ceremony for the 2023 Legal Year, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, lamented that the Supreme Court Justices were overwhelmed, saying they had 6,884 backlogs of appeals.
Apart from state legislative and National Assembly election petitions cases, which terminate at the Court of Appeal, all other matters, both civil and criminal, from across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory are finalised at the Supreme Court, which has 21 Justices at full capacity.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), said there were draft pieces of legislation to address this and many other challenges confronting the judiciary.
Other issues highlighted by the AGF were the judicial appointment process, funding and budgeting for the judiciary, and reducing time spent on the determination of cases, among others.
Fagbemi said the adoption of the legislation would form the fulcrum of the National Summit on Justice organised in collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association and the National Judicial Council.
The event, according to him, is slated for April 24 and 25, 2024.
