Uduaghan argued that the plight of over 41,000 inmates in various prisons in the country of which 29,000 are Awaiting Trial Inmates, had been further worsened by the slow pace of of the judicial system.
He called for the reform of the Nigerian Criminal Justice System to ensure speedy dispensation of criminal cases in the country and decongest prisons across the country.
Speaking at the Nigerian Bar Association second Conference on the Reform of the Criminal Justice System in Asaba, the governor noted that there were compelling reasons why all stakeholders should map out appropriate reforms in criminal justice administration.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Prof. Amos Utuama, said, “It has become necessary to examine the possibility of having special courts to handle specific offences as this will go a long way in decongesting the courts.
“There is also a need for early conclusion of investigations. Working hard to secure bail for an accused is good but anything done to delay or encourage slowing down the trial process, does not augur well for a true democratic society.”
Uduaghan stated that the state government was in the process of enacting a law to deal with incidences of kidnapping, terrorism and cultism.
He added that a multi-door court house had also come on stream in the state to help decongest the regular courts.
The Chief Judge of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, while declaring the conference open, blamed stakeholders in the legal profession for the delay in the dispensation of justice.
He flayed some senior members of the bar for resorting to unprofessional tactics and hiding under technicalities of the rules of procedure to impede speedy trials in criminal courts.
He said,“Some judges wittingly or unwittingly aid this process by failing in their duty to be firmly in control of criminal proceedings in their courts and allowing these gimmicks to go on unabated.
“It is now a matter of common knowledge that almost every criminal trial, especially on serious charges of corruption or other serious crimes is now preceded by endless objections, applications to quash charges, etc which are pursued to appellate levels thereby effectively stalling the main proceedings and resulting in the misuse of judicial time resources.”
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