Access To Justice: Examining Barriers & Innovative Solutions

 

Access To Justice : Examining Barriers and Innovative Solutions 

  1: INTRODUCTION 

Every individual is entitled to justice as an innate right bestowed upon us by the laws of our land. However, when individuals seek justice, they often encounter several barriers that hinders the access to the legal system effectively.

 Some of these barriers include financial constraints, lack of legal knowledge, limited access to legal aid, social biases, emotional challenges, procedural complexities, and even geographical obstacles. 

These barriers can pose significant challenges for people trying to navigate the legal system and advocate for their rights.

When Martin Luther King, JR. asserted  that "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”, the reality that the inaccessibility to justice would pose as a significant threat to carriage of justice, law and order could not have been emphasized any less.

2: Statutory Provisions For The Access Of Justice 

   The Nigerian Constitution guarantees the right to fair hearing and access to justice for all citizens. Additionally, statutes such as the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (2015) and the Legal Aid Act (2011) aim to provide legal assistance and ensure fair trial processes. 

However, challenges persist, including limited awareness of legal rights, inadequate legal representation, lengthy court proceedings, corruption, and socio-economic barriers, particularly affecting marginalized communities such as women, children, and rural residents.

Despite efforts to improve access to justice, it is quite unfortunate that the effectiveness of existing frameworks in Nigeria remains constrained. 

While legal aid provisions exist, they often face resource constraints and bureaucratic hurdles. Moreover, the formal legal system's complexity and cost inhibit many from seeking redress, leading to a reliance on informal dispute resolution mechanisms, which may lack transparency and accountability. 

To enhance inclusivity and overcome barriers, reforms should prioritize legal education, strengthen legal aid services, streamline court processes, combat corruption, and promote alternative dispute resolution mechanisms that align with international standards of fairness and human rights. Only through comprehensive and inclusive approaches can Nigeria ensure equitable access to justice for all its citizens.

3: Socio-Economic Factors 

A number of obstacles conspire against access to justice in Nigeria. While some of these obstacles are substantive in nature, others are procedural and yet others have their roots in the present political and economic system in the country. We shall here examine some of these factors to see how they have continued to inhibit access to justice in Nigeria.

• 1.Delay in the administration of justice.

That there is inordinate delay in the administration of justice in Nigeria is a pedestrian statement. What is however difficult to understand is how Nigerians have been able to live with this phenomenon for several decades without proffering a lasting solution to it. Very often, we see ordinary cases of unlawful termination of employment or even those for the enforcement of fundamental rights lasting between three to five years or even more. 

A number of circumstances could give rise to this delay: lawyers writing letters of adjournment of cases, inability of judges and magistrates to deliver judgments on time, failure of the police or prison authorities to produce accused persons in court for trial, the rule that once a magistrate or judge is transferred and a new one takes over a case, it has to start de novo, etc.16

The bottom line is that today it has almost become an accepted fact in Nigeria that cases must last several years in court before they are concluded. 

Under such circumstances, citizens would naturally be reluctant to initiate actions for the enforcement of their basic rights.

           Unfortunately, the Constitution does not define the meaning of the expression “within a reasonable time” as used in these subsections. The Supreme Court however had cause to define this phrase in the case of Gozie Okeke V. The State (2003) LLJR-SC

• 2.Cost of litigation

It is a well known fact that, relative to the economic situation in Nigeria, the cost of litigation in the country is so high that the ordinary Nigerian can hardly afford adequate legal representation when he has a legal matter to pursue.

This is all the more so if one considers that the vast majority of Nigerians are constantly preoccupied with how best to make a living for themselves and their extended family.

• 3. Effect of some constitutional provisions

It is ironical that some of the constitutional provisions basically designed to guarantee the protection of fundamental rights, unwittingly have the effect of precipitating delays in the judicial process. In this connection reference must be made to some provisions of the 1999 Constitution. Article 36(6).b for instance, provides that “every person who is charged with a criminal offense shall be entitled to be given adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defense”.

How has this constitutional provision been interpreted or applied by the courts?

The guiding principle has been to ensure that an accused person is allowed to utilize the available opportunities to properly present his defense in a criminal case. This implies for instance, that if an accused person is arraigned in court and does not have a counsel, the court will oblige him with an adjournment to enable him secure the services of one.

• 4.Undue reliance on technical rules

Law is an inherently technical subject and this technicality is manifested in the various rules and procedures in place. 

For a litigant to be able to approach the courts, he has to retain the services of a legal practitioner who will initiate the appropriate action, on his behalf.

The litigant, however well educated he may be, is usually unable to understand the intricate processes and rules applicable to his case. The situation is certainly worse for an illiterate Nigerian, and when one realizes that a vast majority of Nigerians are illiterate then the actual picture can better be appreciated.

    Add to this the procedural problems that are often encountered in the filing of suits for the enforcement of fundamental rights, and the picture is complete. 

There had been controversy as to the proper procedure to be followed in the commencement of actions for the enforcement of fundamental rights in Nigeria. 

This problem became more critical following the coming into effect of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 1979.33.

While some judges are of the view that the only acceptable procedure is that prescribed under the Rules, others take a contrary position. 

Thus in the case of Joseph Mangtup Din V. Attorney-General of the Federation (1988) LLJR-SC, Justice Nnaemeka Agu declared that: “The Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 1979 have prescribed the correct and only procedure for the enforcement of fundamental rights which arise under Chapter IV of that Constitution”.

This procedure entails making a prior application ex-parte for leave to apply for the enforcement of the fundamental right, and subsequently filing a motion or originating summons together with the supporting statement and affidavit.

• 5. Locus standi

One other factor that is often used to preclude access to courts in Nigeria is the overused concept of locus standi. This could indeed create a formidable obstacle in the quest for the protection of human rights. 

Locus standi is not an easy concept to define but one can say that it basically means the standing to sue. It refers to the right of a party to an action to be heard in a litigation before a court of law or tribunal or the legal capacity of instituting, initiating or commencing an action in a competent court of law or tribunal without any inhibition, obstruction or hindrance.

In other words, “for a person to have locus standi in an action he must be able to show that his civil rights and obligations have been or are in danger of being infringed.

The courts have also taken the position, quite rightly in our view, that it is better to allow a party to go to court and be heard than to refuse him access to the court.  This is so because Nigerian courts have inherent powers to deal with vexatious litigants or frivolous claims. Justice should not be rationed. 

• 6.Illiteracy

As already mentioned in the preceding, one other significant obstacle to the realization of access to justice in Nigeria is the high level of illiteracy prevalent in the country today. It is most unfortunate that the socio-economic structure of the country has made it impossible for the vast majority of Nigerians to have access to education, notwithstanding the various development plans and programs by successive governments, which emphasize the importance of education.

This problem has been worsened by the current collapse of public schools, including universities which has now made education an exclusive commodity to be purchased and consumed by the bourgeoisie through private institutions.

The point must be made that since education has the capacity of liberating the individual from ignorance, poverty and disease, the lack of it has serious mental, political and economic implications which greatly impedes access to justice in Nigeria. 

At a particular level, it breeds poverty, docility, and even forced connivance with agents of oppression and marginalization. The net result is that, today, a large majority of Nigerians do not have access to social justice and are alienated from the political and economic structures of society.

4: Innovative Solutions

Present innovative approaches and solutions aimed at overcoming barriers to access to justice, such as legal aid programs, technology-based solutions, and community outreach initiatives. 

The case for constant innovation in any sector of society is premised on an intention to make it simpler, accessible, convenient, and profitable, such assertion is one agreed upon by both technocrats and luddites alike.

Consequently, the world is in a race against itself, a race of constant change, a modification so that its very notions, visions, and inventions are not so traditional that they become ossified and a stumbling block against further innovations that would prove helpful for advancing a certain course.

It is the same case made for Law. A profession heavily linked with the past, and highly futuristic with every pronouncement of the Court. If such a profession where the dictates of the past are pertinent even to the future, how then does it progress at all? 

The reason why the Law exists is for Justice to be served. William E. Gladstone said unequivocally, "Justice delayed, is Justice denied". If the produce of Law is Justice, and if the delay is fatal to the very notion of Justice, what measures are apt to curtail such delays?

Furthermore, more than delay that places a hitch on justice, ignorance of certain rights accruable by an individual, or of the infringement of these rights is a far cry from obtaining justice, how then should these individuals get a hold of such rights?

Here are the solutions to overcoming the various impediments against the actualization of justice:

1.) Legal aid programs: Action 4 Justice Nigeria defines Legal Aid as 

 "The provision of assistance to people otherwise unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system". 

Legal aid is is essential in furnishing justice because it ensures equal access to the purview of justice by providing a litigator where essential, and fair hearing within the ambit of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended). Legal aid is crucial and a means to bringing justice to the base, the part of the populace with no means to acquire justice as it should be.

 The Legal aid programs organized by firms or humanitarian organization is significant because as lawyer, one has an obligation to pay society, a commitment to 'see' that justice is done even when means serves as a constraint. There are various organizations including non-profit humanitarian associations that seek such serves, the duty can be fulfilled at such organizations. Legal aid counsels should be encouraged.

2.) Technology-based solutions: As mentioned above, technology evolves to make life easy and convenient. Nothing pushes innovation like necessity, the pandemic saw the rise of court sessions held online. This innovation although novel, grew to be accepted as there existed no other choice. Necessity should not be the only basis for technological innovations, improvisations that envisage future problems that may arise should be encouraged. Online court sessions, filing of cases online, and various other paper works that can be done in proxy online. This would save cost, and time.

3.) Outreach initiatives: Community outreaches meant to sensitize the public and create awareness about certain rights and procedures for enforcement should be encouraged. These outreaches can be in the form of seminars, campaign walks, community outreach, and educational classes.

In Conclusion:

An attempt has been made in this paper to show the linkage between access to justice and the quest for the promotion and protection of human rights in Nigeria. We have also shown that there are a number of fundamental obstacles to the attainment of this highly desirable goal of increasing access to justice. While some of the obstacles are substantive, others are procedural.

The point has further been made that some of the constitutional provisions which are geared towards ensuring human rights protection, also have the unintended effect of engendering undue delays, and consequently, conspire against access to justice.

—- The University of Jos, Law Clinic.