Daily Independent Online.
*
Tuesday, June 22, 2004.
Lagos courts
begin implementation of new civil procedure rules
By Victor Efeizomor
Law
Reporter
More than one year after it was passed into
law, the new Lagos State civil procedure rules have official kicked off in all
the courts, ushering in new ways
and means of filing matters in the courts.
The new rules, which was lunched at the
weekend by the Lagos State Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was specifically
designed for the state judiciary to reduce trial time, simplify the legal
processes, discourage frivolous litigations and encourage the use of
alternative dispute resolution method.
The new rules, a review of the High Court
of Lagos State (civil procedure) rules, were passed into law in May 22, 2003 by
the State House of Assembly. An 11- member Civil Procedure Review Committee
under the Chairmanship of Justice O. O Oke with Justice S.O. Ilori, a former
Chief Judge of the state, did the review within eight months.
Daily Independent investigations
revealed that most of the lawyers who come to court and were oblivious of the
development were turned back with their filing papers for the court as some of
them did not meet the specifications of the new rules.
A legal practitioner, Mr. Umenze, told Daily
Independent that he came to the court to file a motion on notice but was
told to include the evidence of the plaintiff as well as the other necessary
papers such as the statement of the defense before the register could assign
the case to a judge for hearing.
He noted that the new civil procedure rules
was the best thing that has ever happened to the judiciary as it would
eradicate the problem of delay in the dispensation of justice as a judge
saddled with a case would have all the papers filed by both the plaintiff and
the defense to enable him conclude the case in the shortest possible time.
