How legal reforms can strengthen trust in justice system, by Pedro
Lagos State Attorney General, Lawal Pedro (SAN), a couple of days ago, hosted Judiciary editors, lawyers in the Media and Judiciary Correspondents to a dialogue. ADEBISI ONANUGA and UDEH ONYEBUCHI
Lagos State Attorney General, Lawal Pedro (SAN), a couple of days ago, hosted Judiciary editors, lawyers in the Media and Judiciary Correspondents to a dialogue. ADEBISI ONANUGA and UDEH ONYEBUCHI report that the event afforded them opportunity to exchange ideas on judicial reforms, tenancy law and his ministry’s effort at strengthening justice system in the state.
On the civil aspects, you can see there are cases pending in court. It is not enough for a litigant to win a case at the High Court if the appeal then remains pending for two to five years. To address this, we collaborated with the leadership of the Court of Appeal, including the President and the Presiding Justice of the Lagos Division, as well as the state government. Through that partnership, we provided support that will decongest the court. We were able to take no less than 400 appeals within one week. With the concerted effort of the President, of the Presiding Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem and of course, Mr. Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who has faith in the justice system and believes that delayed justice is dangerous to democracy and to our development.
On reforms being introduced to make civil justice more efficient
On the state side, we have already brought in place the administration of civil justice law, which is now present in the House of Assembly and the executive process. The idea is to streamline the civil justice, because when the claims are being pulled here and there, lawyers are colleagues, mostly responsible, sometimes they say the judge is the cause.
So if the law and the rules are made to ensure that the system is efficient or more efficient and effective, it’s going to help everybody. The idea by this new administration of civil justice law is to ensure that cases do not last more than 12 to 18 months in the High Court of Lagos State.
Tenancy dispute cases that drag on for years?
As a corollary to that is the issue of tenancy. As a matter of policy, the Lagos State governor does not specifically say why tenancy matters will be in our courts in Lagos State for five years. Tenants not paying rent, tenants not vacating, and the only excuse is that the matter is in courts. Mr. Governor is not too happy with that, and we have put our team in camp on how can we do this.
And we have sent a bill now to the House of Assembly, which is also awaiting the state process. The idea is that if the bill is eventually passed into law, tenancy matters will not last more than three months, maximum six months in our courts, any of the courts. In addition, three months is given in recognition of the constitutional provisions that have final address. A judge has 90 days to deliver his judgment.
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But the way we are going to do is we wait for both parties, both the tenants and the landlord. Nobody will have to oppress another using the court system. What I see is that the court is being used, and the court is helpless because the rules and the law do not come to their aid. We want to stop courts from being used as instruments of oppression.
On fairness and abuse of current system by tenants taking his landlord to court
How can a tenant take his landlord to court? This is a tenant that has not paid for the last one year. He takes his landlord to court, and the matter is in court for five years. He will not get it. He will not pay. That, in our view, is injustice.
So what we have done is to ensure that, yes, you have the right to pay. You have the right to approach the courts. There must be conditional precedence now for a tenant if the law is eventually passed. The bill is passed into law. For a tenant to seek to sue his landlord, you have the right. There must be conditional precedence. You must have paid your rent, your service charge, your utility bill, up to date. Then you can go to court.
If you like, remain in court, and you continue to pay. You will now see whether it pays you to continue with that right or not. And all this we are doing is not just for equity, but also to encourage investment in real estate, in respect of housing, so that people will now be building for rent.
On reforms, developers and the broader housing market
What we do now, people build for leases. They will build their house. Instead of giving the tenant for one year, three months, six months, they say they are building at least for five years. And that’s what is happening.
But you can’t blame the developer, because he too has borrowed money from friends to erect this building. So if you put a tenant there, and the tenant refused to pay for the next five years, how will he repay his loan? How will the business survive? So these reforms balance the rights and responsibilities of landlords, tenants, and investors in Lagos State’s housing estates.
Other initiatives to improve access to justice in Lagos
We have strengthened administrative offices and established what we call justice centers—areas focused on access to justice, some of which you are already aware of.
The Bureau of Public Defender is there, and we have the Citizen Mitigation Bureau. These are the offices. And the second one is the one you know as the Office of the Public Defender, which is now the Bureau of Public Defender. Now, in a few months, by the grace of God, Mr. Governor will give us a Permanent Secretary for that office. And this is because law is evolving. Population is increasing. Likewise, that workforce has to increase in the Ministry of Justice for us to be able to keep the peace. And one of the areas is to ensure that these offices, that used to be two, three, five councils before now, have about 300 officers, staff, so they should be able to serve more Lagosians.
And we have the Directorate of Citizens Rights that still ensures that the rights of the people are protected, no matter whose side of the divide, either it’s government, either it’s individual, will intercede to ensure that the citizens’ rights are protected.
On protection of vulnerable groups, such as victims of domestic and sexual violence
Of course, you know our Department of DSVA, which is the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, they are doing a lot to ensure that our children, our women, and even men that are subjects of domestic violence have remedy, and survivors are also protected. Survivors are sheltered. Survivors are given permission for sustainability.
And the perpetrators are brought to court and prosecuted by the criminal department of the state, which is that of the Directorate of Public Prosecution, which is a case with the police in criminal prosecution. And that is also a good department. Every crimes that have been committed in Lagos.
We have the district oratory that we put at the magistrate court to ensure that suspects and defendants who are presumed innocent are entitled to speak their truth.
Highlights of tenure so far
Beyond normal ministerial duties, these are just snippets of what we have been able to accomplish in the last two and a half years. These reforms, innovations, and offices are all part of my tenure as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice for Lagos State. They represent a commitment to justice that is fair, accessible, and human-centered.
