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Foremost human rights advocate and
immediate-past President of the Nigerian
Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Olisa
Agbakoba, SAN, has expressed profound
gratitude to the retiring Chief Justice
of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Idris Legbo
Kutigi for making the new Fundamental
Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules.
Briefing reporters in Lagos, Agbakoba
said he was elated at the development
adding that the new Rules would
revolutionise human rights practice.
The CJN made the new Rules in exercise
of the powers conferred on him by
section 46(3) of the 1999 Constitution,
thereby abrogating the old Rules which
had been in operation since 1979. While
the old Rules held sway, human rights
activists and practitioners alike were
in the forefront of advocacy for the
amendment of some of its provisions that
they viewed as constituting impediments
to the enforcement of citizens’
fundamental rights whenever they were
trampled upon. They therefore clamoured
for a radical review of procedures and
elimination of the clogs that hampered
enforcement of such rights.
Against the backdrop of his antecedents
in human rights struggle, when Agbakoba
assumed office as NBA President in 2006,
the intensification of the advocacy
naturally found its way into his
programmes, hence the collaboration with
an advocacy group Access to Justice, to
engage the relevant institutions towards
achieving a reform of the Rules. The
fruit of the collaboration is the new
Rules which became operative on December
1 2009. Its introduction may in fact be
taken as a parting gift from Justice
Kutigi who retires as CJN by the end of
this month.
Agbakoba is enthused that the new Rules
“would dramatically alter the face of
human rights practice”. He listed the
transformation that would be achieved by
the operation of the new Rules to
include: “(1) expanded access to justice
by virtue of the fact that an aggrieved
person can now approach the court
without leave; (2) you can also approach
any court you want; it’s no longer a
question of form; (3) it also provides
for the application of international
human rights norms, including those that
have not been domesticated; (4) it’s
also going to impact on Chapter Two of
the Constitution, which though is not
justiciable but its provisions could now
be enforceable. Then the issue of
standing (locus standi) has been
put to rest: any person can now approach
the court without necessarily been the
one affected by a violation. Above all,
speed can now be guaranteed because the
Rules has provided for frontloading”. |
