COMMUNIQUE ISSUED BY THE CITIZENS FORUM FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM (C.F.C.R.) AT THE COLLOQUIUM ON ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND THE RULE OF LAW HELD IN LAGOS FROM 2^nd – 5^th NOVEMBER, 2000.

The Citizens Forum for Constitutional Reform (C.F.C.R) is a coalition of civil society organizations committed to a process-led and participatory approach to constitutional reform in Nigeria.  The Forum was formally inaugurated on 2^nd July 1999.  Presently, the Forum has a national steering committee, six zonal co-ordinators and state co-ordinators for all states of the federation and Abuja.

The Forum organized a colloquium on Access to Justice and the Rule of Law in Lagos from 2^nd – 5^th November, 2000. The colloquium was attended by lawyers, academicians and representatives of civil society organizations.

The colloquium observes that:

1.                  Countries which have well-entrenched and flourishing democracies have judicial systems that are free, strong, well-motivated and unbiased.

2.                  Access to justice is one of the most serious problems confronting citizens of Nigeria.

3.                  The obstacles or impediments to a citizen’s access to justice in Nigeria include ignorance of the populace, poverty, corruption and bad or non-existent infrastructure for the administration of justice.

4.                  Contrary to the rules, persons without proven integrity have been appointed to judicial offices. We hope that in this democratic dispensation, the National Assembly and the various Houses of Assembly will be alert to the need for screening of nominees before confirmation.

5.                  The composition and powers of the National Judicial Council violates the principles of federalism, fair representation, equity and democracy.  For instance, of the 21 members of the National Judicial Council, 17 of them are appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria. Meanwhile, the council controls the appointment, removal from office, discipline and control of all monies both in the Federal and State judiciaries.

The Colloquium suggests the following amendments to the 1999 Constitution:

1.                  Sections 20-22 of the third schedule concerning the composition and powers of the national judicial council should be amended.  The powers to appoint and discipline judges and collect and distribute funds should be deleted.  Rather, it should only perform broad policy formulation roles.  It should be restructured to function as a parliament made up of both Federal and State judicial officers on the basis of equity.

2.                  Sections 231, 238, 250, 256, 260 and 266 should be amended so that the function of recommending judicial officers for appointment will be performed by the Federal Judicial Service Commission or State Judicial Service Commission as the case may be and not the National Judicial Council.

3.                  Section 251 of the constitution dealing with jurisdiction of the Federal High court should be amended.  Sections 251, subsections 1 (d), (e), (f), (g), (j), (n), (o), (p), (q), r), (s) and (x) should be deleted.  These sections contain items such as operation of companies, bankruptcy, and weight and measures that State High Courts should have co-ordinate jurisdictions.  Moreover, the Federal High courts are not well spread and will deny access to justice when it excludes the jurisdiction of state High Courts in many areas.

4.                  Section 291 should be amended so that any judicial officer appointed to the courts under the constitution shall cease to hold office when he or she attains that age of seventy years.

The colloquium makes the following suggestions for the improvement of access to justice and the rule of law:

1.                  The judiciary should draw their funds from the consolidated revenue fund.  The funds should be managed directly by the judiciary.  The approval of funds for the Federal Judiciary should be done by the National Assembly while that for the State Judiciary should be done by the State Houses of Assembly. A mechanism should be put in place to ensure that disbursement is not dependent on the whims and caprices of the executive.

2.                  The judiciary should prepare its budget, defend it and the fund released directly to the judiciary.  The executive shall release all funds to the judiciary as approved by the legislature.

3.                  The Chief Justice of Nigeria and State Chief Judges should be elected by their peers for a single term of 5 years without the possibility of renewal of tenure.

The colloquium calls on the government to:

1.                  Ensure that the Presidential Technical Committee on Constitutional Review and the National Assembly Committee on Constitutional Review pursue a process led, participatory approach to constitutional review.

2.                  Ensure that civil society organizations are involved in the process of constitutional review.

3.                  Fund Civil Society Organizations to engage in law related civic education.

4.                  Improve the remuneration of judicial officers.

5.                  Properly fund and staff the legal aid council with competent people to increase the access to justice by indigent members of the public.

6.                  Rehabilitate the prisons to make them more habitable.

The basic necessities of life should be provided to people in incarceration.

7.                  Subject the draft constitution to referendum before the final approval.

The colloquium calls on civil society organizations to:

1.                  Submit a memorandum to the National Assembly on constitutional reform.

2.                  Produce a model constitution that can be used for advocacy.

The Forum will soon start its out reach programmes in the six geo-political zones covering all states of the federation.