Kano state Judiciary has call for the need to increase the number of high court Judges and Kadis of sharia Court of Appeal to accommodate the large number of cases and expedite dispensation of justice in the state.
The Chief Registrar, High Court of Justice, Kano State, Alhaji Abdullahi Ado Bayero, made the call in a communique issued at the end of a 5 day retreat for Judicial Officers, Magistrates, Sharia Court Judges, Management and Staff of the Judiciary held from 5th to 9th December, 2023 in Kano.
The Communique stressed the need for judicial autonomy to be actualized to make justice more accessible and the judicial system sustainable.
In the communique the gathering also advocated for study centre of Jury Trust Centre to include Sharia Court of Kano for balance research outcome.
” Accusations of the Police interfering with the Judicial Processes should be addressed by letting members of both sectors meet and expresse their views on the issue in order to generate a more positive outcome,”
“The court should be equipped with ICT Infrastructure, and judicial and non-judicial staff should be empowered with ICT knowledge,”
“It is paramount importance that the walfare and renumeration of judicial officers, Judges of the lower court bench and the support staff be given due consideration,”
The communique similarly demanded that the operational structure of the Kano State Judiciary should be should be revisited to be more functional and cater for ever growing demand on the judiciary especially with the recent heavy influx of commercial cases.
The retreat stressed the need for the establishment of victim offender mediation centre with professional mediators to assist in the process.
In the Communique, Kano Judiciary maintained that there is concerted efforts to make funds available so that Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) of Kano State can be annotated and indexed for easy reference and should be interpreted into hausa for the benefit of sharia Court.
“KMDC and the Small Claims Court are laudable achievement and effective tool efficient justice administration as such they should be taken more seriously for their effect on the life of comman man.”
“Judges have a duty to enforce order and control in their courtrooms and should not entertain mediocrity and incompetence.”
The retreat further stressed the need for every lawyer to respect the dignity of the court and judge.
According to the communique, the Kano State Judiciary organised a five day retreat for stakeholders in the judicial sector with the theme ‘Refocus; strategy for Reforms’. It was organized with the aim of creating an avenue where the problems riddling the effective administration of judiciary be addressed.
It revealed that the retreat was attended by the Kano State game Governor Dr. Nasir Yusuf Gawuna, Attorney General of Kano State, serving and retired Justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Magistrates serving and retired, Senior members of the Bar, Academic from the legal profession among many others.
