The Enugu state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Kingsley Udeh have said that though the rate of crime may not have been increasing, the rate of apprehending offenders has increased.
Udeh who made the assertion àwhile interacting with newsmen in his office, said “You know we have CCTVs across the state. So, it’s easier now to apprehend and investigate and prosecute offenders more than we had before
“So, the more criminals apprehend, the more criminal case files that we receive on a daily basis to the office of the Attorney General for prosecution”. Udeh stated.
On the quick dispensation of justice, the Commissioner said there were many dimensions of the dispensation of justice that are handled by the office of the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.
“We have dispensation of justice as relates to criminal prosecution of offenders of the law
“There’s also the civil aspect of it. Of course, public interest litigation. We don’t only handle civil matters relating to the interest of the government but also in the interest of the public
“There’s also the aspect of dispensation of justice that relates to law making. You know that it’s the House of Assembly that makes laws but most of the laws made by the assembly come as executive bills, and it’s the responsibility of the Attorney General as the chief law officer of the state to either draft by himself or through the officers of the ministry
“For criminal prosecution, one of the things we did on the assumption of office was to put it upon ourselves to take up the self imposed target of ensuring that any criminal case file that comes for legal opinion is treated within 10 days.
“And when we say 10 days, the truth is that the office of the Attorney General is inundated with criminal case flies. We have up to 100 criminal case flies coming in every month. You also know that criminal prosecution is not the only work we do here. So, in addition to those we have going on in courts, we receive a minimum of 100 case files on a monthly basis.
“So, notwithstanding the enormity and volume of work we do, we have deviced a means of treating criminal case flies expeditiously, to the effect that we have cut down the days used in treating criminal cases flies up to 70 percent. This means that if there’s a prima facie case against the suspect, the person will be charged to court so that he or she can know his or her fate as soon as possible. In the absence of this, we discharge. It is the police that investigate, not us
“One of the things we do here is that we have motivated our staff in various ways by giving reward for good work and it’s having a positive effect in production and productivity.”
The Commissioner for Justice said that on the assumption of office, the governor approved what is called the Witness Support Fund.
“This is money earmarked for calling witnesses especially in criminal cases. Before now, the inability to get witnesses was one of the things that stalled the quick dispensation of justice before the present administration came on board
“You know that criminal prosecution is done by the state. You know that the government is not the victim or complainant or even nominal complainant. When people have problems, they complain to the police and the police give back to us to handle. Now, we call witnesses
“Each criminal case file is given to a prosecutor, a law officer in the ministry of justice. Before now, money was not assigned to them for calling witnesses
“We don’t pay them, but rather provide them with logistics. If you’re calling a pathologist to give expert evidence as a witness, they wouldn’t agree to come until you give them money for logistics
“Also, if you are calling a police officer to testify in court, you have to give him money for transportation because it is a separate work from their regular official duties. So, sometimes, they’re called outside their jurisdiction and he/she has to come
“When we came, we discovered that prosecutors were not keen as some were seeking posting to other departments because some were paying witnesses from their personal salaries. So, when we came, we said it had to stop
“So, when that was presented to me, I discussed it with the governor, who approved some money in line with the provision of the Law, that certain funds will have to be provided, where anyone coming as a witness will be supported with a token for logistics
“So, prosecutors now know that they won’t have to spend their salaries in calling witnesses while prosecuting cases in courts. With this innovation, cases are now moving faster in courts because of that provision”. The Commissioner said
On civil and general law administration in the state, the Commissioner said that to ensure that even civil cases are quickly dispensed with, the governor had to engage a tech firm that is now digitalizing justice administration in Enugu State.
“This means that wherever you are in any part of the world, you can attend a court hearing virtually in Enugu, if you notify the court. So, with that device, in place, you can attend virtual hearing and we’re also working on filing processes electronically or online so that even if you travel and need to file a process, you don’t have to wait until you return before you file it. That’s what we’re working on now, digitizing court processes and even proceedings so that what will take days to handle will be handled within a few hours.” Udeh stated.
There’s also the anti-land grabbing law. It’s called Property Protection Law (PPL), which criminalises fraudulent dealings in land and people using force to enter other people’s lands. “We’re not waiting to have problems before we respond to them. We foresee problems and use the law to address them or nip them in the bud.”
The Commissioner also talked about the implications of speedy trials in the decongestion of prisons by positively reducing the number of awaiting trial inmates.
“But because of the number of criminal case flies that are coming up, it also increases the number of awaiting trials in the prison notwithstanding the fact that as much as we can to deal with it because the capacity of the correctional centres has been far exceeded by the population of our society and the number if suspects
“This is why the government is looking at how to expand the capacity of the correctional facilities in Enugu
“Talking about jail delivery, the Comptroller of Correctional Service, Enugu, who is also a member of the Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy, which I chair, all of us have the approval of the governor to work on jail delivery.
“Jail delivery means the court will sit within the Correctional Service premises and treat cases with dispatch. These are also ways of decongestion of prisons which we’re embarking on.
” Remember that last December, Governor Mbah also granted pardon to some deserving inmates via the Prerogative of Mercy.
“These are some of the efforts we’re making to decongest the prisons in an orderly, conscientiously, sensitive manner so that we don’t discharge wrong convicts that may come back to the society to haunt us.” Udeh added.
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