The Edo state chief judge, Justice Daniel Iyobosa Okungbowa, has tasked stakeholders in the justice sector reform to ensure humane treatment of remand suspects and convicted persons.
Justice Okungbowa said every society is built on the rule of law and noted, “Where law is obligated in some ways, it will lead to anarchy, chaos and resuscitation of the Hobbesian state of nature where man becomes a beast to his fellow man.”
He also called for deepened forensics and technology templates in the criminal justice system, adding, “We cannot afford to lag behind because jurisprudence is now approached in a multidisciplinary manner.”
Judge Okungbowa, who was represented at the event by Justice Anthony N. Erhabor, praised the organizers for their efforts in the Edo state justice sector process, “especially as criminal jurisprudence cannot be overemphasized.”
The CJ made this statement Thursday at a town hall meeting on justice sector reform organized by the CLEEN Foundation with support from the MacArthur Foundation.
Other stakeholders at the meeting included representatives from the anti-graft agency, police, correctional services, civil society organizations, lawyers, immigration, journalists, and others.
He noted: “These interactive sessions, workshops, seminars will go a long way to sharpen our intellectual perspicacity and further fortify our perspective on the constitutional imperative of the presumption of innocence.”
At the Institutional Strengthening & Sustainability Engagement on the ACJA/L regime, Mr. Peter Maduoma, the acting executive director of CLEEN FOUNDATION, earlier called for deeper institutional strengthening, broader stakeholder coordination, and a long-term commitment to sustaining reforms in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act/Law.
Maduoma said that the efforts of ACJA/L stakeholders have resulted in successes in advocacy, capacity building, policy reforms, and multi-stakeholder engagements. He also said that the purpose of the meeting was to provide civil society organizations, legal experts, law enforcement agencies, and other crucial actors with the resources, information, and cooperative frameworks needed to support ongoi
ng reform efforts.
