Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has outlined a package of criminal-justice reforms aimed at reducing prolonged trials and improving consistency across Nigerian jurisdictions.
Fagbemi set out the measures in a goodwill message to the 2026 Annual Conference of the African Bar Association in Sal, Cabo Verde, which runs from September 20 to 24.
He said Nigeria was advancing legislative amendments that would introduce mandatory pre-trial case management, greater digitisation of court proceedings and measures aimed at preventing trials from starting afresh when judges are elevated or transferred.
The problem of trials beginning de novo, or afresh, has long attracted criticism because evidence taken over several years can effectively be lost when the presiding judge becomes unable to continue with the matter.
Fagbemi also highlighted Nigeria’s National Minimum Standards on Criminal Justice and a Harmonised Restorative Justice Framework.
According to the Attorney-General, these reforms are intended to establish more consistent operational benchmarks across jurisdictions while incorporating restorative-justice tools, victim compensation and witness-support mechanisms.
At the continental level, he called for closer cooperation in mutual legal assistance, cross-border criminal investigations, asset recovery, anti-corruption enforcement, organised-crime investigations and cybercrime legislation.
The proposals are significant because several of Nigeria’s most persistent justice-sector problems are procedural rather than purely substantive: repeated adjournments, transfer of judges, fragmented implementation of criminal-justice laws and inadequate technological infrastructure.
Implementation, rather than policy announcement alone, will determine whether the reforms ultimately shorten trials and improve access to justice.
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SOURCE: Lawyard — Full AGF Message
