The Nigerian Senate has passed an amendment Bill which provides for an increase in the number of Court of Appeal justices from 90 to 110.
Senate passed the bill on Tuesday after it considered and adopted the report of its Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters on the Court of Appeal Act, 2013 (Amendmen) Bill, 2022.
Leading debate on the report, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Bamidele Opayemi said “the legislative intent of this amendment is to ensure that the court has the requisite manpower to allow for the creation of more divisions of the court, and to bring the court closer to litigants in line with the current realities aimed at expediting dispensation of Justice.”
He explained that the committee extended the amendment to other provisions of the bill whereby new clauses and sub-clauses were introduced to address plethora of issues bordering on the administration of justice, as it relates to the Court of Appeal.
According to Senator Bamidele, “one of the salient provisions of the new bill is the aspect that seeks to integrate virtual court proceedings, which have become an integral part of court proceedings in recent times.”
The new amendment seeks to align the provisions of the extant act with the provisions of the Nigerian Correctional Services Act.
It also seeks to formalise the convention of having a five-member panel of justices to hear Election Appeals and issues on appeals that are novel, uncertain and recondite.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
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