The Juritrust Centre ACJAMC is a premier national advocacy tournament meticulously designed to advance clinical legal education and enhance criminal justice practice in Nigeria. By simulating high-stakes practical scenarios, the competition bridges the gap between theoretical classroom learning and the complexities of the Nigerian legal system.

Objectives

The main objectives of the competition are to:

1. facilitate in-depth understanding of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and State laws among law students and young legal practitioners.
2. Sharpen the analytical research, persuasive writing, and oral advocacy skills essential for successful legal careers.
3. Instill in competitors a strong sense of legal ethics and courtroom etiquette.
4. Identify high-potential law students and young lawyers with a view to providing opportunities for career mentorship and growth.

⚖️ The Road to Excellence: Announcing our National Qualifiers!
​We are proud to announce the six universities advancing to the Moot Proceedings Stage of the Juritrust Centre ACJA National Moot Competition:
​📍 North Central: Kogi State University
📍 North West: Bayero University
📍 South East: Ebonyi State University
📍 South South: Edwin Clark University
📍 South West: Caleb University
📍 South South: University of Calabar (Overall runner-up after regional winners emerged)

​Congratulations to the brilliant student advocates who have made it this far. Let the final rounds begin!
​#ACJA #MootCourt #RoadToJustice #Juritrust #LegalExcellence

From March 18-20, 2025, Juritrust

Centre for Socio-Legal Research and Documentation engaged with the Plateau State Justice Sector at Crispan Hotel, Jos, to examine and enhance the implementation of the Plateau State Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) 2018.

On 17th March, 2025, the Honourable Chief Judge of the High of Plateau State, Hon. Justice David Mann welcomed members of Juritrust centre, the lead Researcher, Prof. Adedeji Adekunle SAN and Director of Studies, Mr. Olugbemi Jaiyebo in his office and gave them a brief tour round the High Court. Prof. Adekunle commended the Plateau State for having a standard Family Court which is a one-off unique feature any state can have.

DAY 1

The 3-day program which held at Crispan Hotel, Jos officially kicked off on 18th March, 2025 with a one-day engagement with the Justice Sector Reform Team. It was a strategic session with the Justice Sector Reform Team (JSRT), including magistrates, the Ministry of Justice, the Nigerian Police, Correctional Services, the NBA, and Legal Aid. This meeting focused on key legal issues such as lay prosecution, confessional statements, case management, plea bargains, witness protection, and sentencing. The discussion also incorporated gender mainstreaming and disability inclusion to align with best practices in justice. The Honourable Chief Judge, Hon. Justice David Mann, in his opening remarks, emphasized the importance of legal reforms in upholding due process and ensuring an effective justice system and beckoned on all stakeholders to continue to strive to ensure the standard of justice doesn’t fall. The Attorney General of the State was duly represented by Mrs Shetak Beeklang. The insights and deliberation left all participants with a call to be more intentional with complying with the law as well as fostering co-operation amongst all stakeholders. (INSERT PICTURES FROM DAY ONE)

DAY 2

The final two days focused on engaging only the Honourable Judges of the High Court of Justice, Plateau State, with discussions on admissibility of evidence, case management, sentencing guidelines, and gender-sensitive criminal justice reforms. The Hon. Chief Judge in his opening statements addressed the issues of lack of technology and lack of knowledge on compliance with law amongst law enforcement bodies as one of the crucial challenges faced within the justice system. In the course of deliberation on presentations made, the Hon. Judges noted that case management is inevitable and more efforts will be done to ensure cases are dispensed with speedily. Also, of importance is the need to examine the law from the gender equality and social inclusion perspective. It is obvious that more work needs to be done in terms of structural renovations and legal provisions to ensure justice is accessible and inclusive within the state. The engagement concluded with closing remarks from Mr. Olugbemi Jaiyebo, Director of Studies, who expressed gratitude to the Chief Judge, Justices, and JSRT members, emphasizing that the insights gained would drive meaningful legal reforms in the state. 

#LegalReform #JusticeForAll #ACJL2018 #JuritrustCentre #PlateauStateJustice

The Behavioural Insights and Ethical Norms in Justice

Administration Research Study (the Study) is an interdisciplinary study of corruption in the Nigerian judicial sector. The Study is an initiative of the Juritrust Centre for Socio-Legal Research and Documentation (the Juritrust Centre). The Study is part of a larger project on the implementation of the ACJA and Anti-corruption laws by the Juritrust Centre with the support of the MacArthur Foundation. The Study duly acknowledges that the anti-corruption fight needs reform champions in critical sectors, including the Judiciary. However, it emphasizes the importance of ethics and demands behavioural change among actors and players in the judicial sector. It also acknowledges the shortcomings of technical legal training that focuses exclusively on legal frameworks and ignores the social and ethical milieu in which judicial activity exists. The Study is thus adopting behavioural change strategies and ethics to address the problem of corruption in the judicial sector. The following is an overview of the study. A detailed report of the study will be published by the Centre later this year.

Following the enactment of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2022 and the Administration of Civil Justice Law 2022 in Delta State the Delta State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Isaiah Bozimo, Esq

convened a workshop for a broad range of actors and stakeholders. The workshop which held from the 10th to the 12th of May 2023, centred around the innovations and fundamental aspects of the two laws which are already being acknowledged as trailblazers in the country’s legal framework.

The workshop was attended by the Chief Judge and the Honourable Judges of the High Court of Delta State and the first and second days of the workshop x-rayed the Administration of civil Justice Law and the Administration of Criminal Justice Law respectively.

The sessions for the first day examined Pre-litigation Requirements and Costs, Active Case Management. Alternative Dispute Resolution and Interim Remedies Reference (IRR) and the role of Information Technology within the justice system. The sessions were facilitated by senior lawyers which included Mrs Funke Adekoya SAN and Babatunde Fagbohunlu SAN

Similarly, the criminal justice sessions were helmed by an array of industry stalwarts. Prof. Yemi Akinseye George, SAN, provided a comprehensive overview of the new provisions within the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2022. Chino Obiagwu, SAN, dissected the Case Management provisions, while Prof. Festus Emiri, SAN, elucidated on the Sentencing and Restitution provisions.

The concluding day broadened the scope of participation to include a diverse range of stakeholders. This included Magistrates, Presidents of Area Customary Courts, Court Registrars, State Counsel from the Ministry of Justice, Legal Aid Council, representatives from the Department of State Services, Nigeria Correctional Service and officers from the Nigerian Police Force.

In his closing remarks the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Delta State, Isaiah Bozimo, Esq.underscored the commitment of the Ministry of Justice to continuous capacity building for staff. True to his words he unveiled detailed implementation workbooks for the Civil and Criminal Justice Laws of Delta State which are designed to guide application of the laws and the adoption of best legal practices in their implementation.

JURITRUST Centre for Socio Legal Research and Documentation invites submission of short articles from VOLUNTEER CONTRIBUTORS who are interested in sharing their perspectives on salient issues in the administration and development of the Nigerian Criminal Justice System, comparative systems and related issues.

The Centre engages in researching and tracking of legal, developmental and governance issues. It publishes a monthly newsletter that features short articles which undertakes in-depth analysis of anti-corruption and criminal justice matters.

Submitted works should focus on arrest and pre-trial matters, trial and interlocutory matters, sentencing and ancillary orders, corruption and money laundering, electoral crimes, criminal justice reform, restorative justice, sexual and gender based violence, human rights and other matters related to criminal justice system.

All Volunteer Contributors should-

1. write and submit original articles-

• in simple and clear English
• 3-5 pages using Times New Roman, Font size 13 and 1.5-line spacing.
• that are not in breach of copyright or intellectual property.
• that have not been published elsewhere before submission to editor.

2. not plagiarise or copy and paste the works of other writers from other sources.

3. approach any topic or issue from a balanced point of view.

4. ensure articles are topical, timely or of recent happenings and developments in the socio-legal sphere.

5. not make defamatory allegations or attack any personality or organisation.

6. assign publishing rights to Juritrust Centre to publish and republish the article on its website in any way it deems fit. NOTE: This is without prejudice to right of author to publish elsewhere subject to an acknowledgement of where the article first appeared.

7. not claim to represent the Centre or its views unless employed to do so.

Please note that submitted articles –

1. will be published subject to positive report from reviewers;
2. are entirely on a voluntary basis. The Centre does not pay nor receive payment for the work; and
3. must be accompanied by the author’s full names, description and mailing address.

If you are Interested in submitting an article or being a JURITRUST Volunteer Contributor, please send a sample of original article to publications@juritrustcentre.org

The Centre is conducting a study on Behavioural Insights on Ethical Norms in the Justice Administration. As part of the project, the Centre undertook an interdisciplinary

study of corruption in the Nigerian judicial sector with the support of the Macarthur Foundation which progressed into the coding and analyses of field data phase this December, 2022.

Pre-Data Collation Workshop for Researchers May 2022

Dr Kole Shettima Director MacArthur Foundation addresses Researchers at the Workshop in May 2022

The Study duly acknowledges that the anti-corruption fight needs reform champions in critical sectors, including the Judiciary. It also acknowledges the shortcoming existing literature on anti-corruption that focus exclusively on legal frameworks and ignores the social and ethical milieu in which judicial activity exists. The Study is thus adopting behavioural change strategies and ethics to address the problem of corruption in the judicial sector.

Dr Sesan Peter, Analyst and Prof Victor Adetula, Project coordinator at the workshop

Dr Suzzie Oyakhire Member PMC and Juritrust Lead Prof Adekunle compare notes at the May workshop

The first phase of the Study surveyed through the use of semi structured interviews perceptions, opinions and viewpoints of Judicial Officers and other stakeholders in the judicial sector on the scope, forms and social context of corruption in the Nigerian judiciary. 18 state judiciaries collaborated with the Centre on the Project which aims to also share preliminary results with the collaborating states in experience sharing interactive sessions planned for the second phase of the project. Prior to the deployment of the Researchers to start the survey, they were invited to Abuja for a two-day training workshop. The training workshop held at Blue Springs Hotel, Abuja in May 2022. The training workshop was intended to educate the Researchers on the Study’s objectives, to familiarize the Researchers with the research tools to be used during the interviews and to also communicate the appropriate manner to be adopted by the Researcher when seeking and conducting the interviews.

The project will lead to the publication of a research report on the findings of the Study which is expected to aid in the understanding of the issue of corruption in the Nigerian judicial sector.

In spite of the innovations introduced in ACJA 2015, several of its provisions remain unimplemented or poorly implemented due to serious

constraints such as lack of infrastructure, logistics, personnel, for particularly inadequate understanding and appreciation of the dynamics of the key provisions of the law. 

The Juritrust Centre, regards as strategic the organisation of intensive capacity building for relevant Stakeholders including Judges and Magistrates on the implementation of the Law, if the objectives of the enactments are to be realized.

Participants at the Ekiti ACJL Workshop 2022

In line with this, Juritrust organised a series of training workshops on the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 and anti-corruption for Magistrates in Cross River State (20-21 June); Sokoto and Kebbi States (27 -28 June); Bauchi and Plateau States; Ekiti State (4^th – 5^th July) and Oyo and Ogun States (21- 22 July

The sessions involved presentations with the sole purpose of building better understanding of the administration of criminal justice. Such presentations gave overviews of the Administration of Criminal Justice Laws (ACJL) in these States along with current developments/ innovations. It also allowed for information and experience sharing through interactive sessions on topics like Non-Custodial Sentencing, Magisterial Visits to Detention Facilities-Sharing Experience, Plea Bargain Agreement in Magistrate Court and the ACJL and Complementary Criminal Statutes which was led by the Centre’s Lead Researcher, Professor Adedeji Adekunle, SAN

Some members of the Faculty at the Oyo/Ogun ACJL Workshop with the Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice A. Ladipo.

Sessions also revealed similar and peculiar challenges faced by judges and magistrates such as Security of the Magistrates especially those in rural areas; Non-cooperation from the police; and the dearth of infrastructure and resources facilitate effective Criminal justice administration.

Magistrates at the ACJL Workshop in Ekiti state. 4-5 July 2022

A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and Department of Public Prosecution of the Federal Ministry of justice (DPP-FMOJ) was formally

launched on the 28^th of November 2022. The SOP is the outcome of a collaboration between the ACJMC Sub-committee on Investigation and Prosecution, GIZ, , FCT Magistrates, RoLAC, NIALS and some CSOs including CSLS and JURITRUST.

The SOP draws strength from the Constitution, ACJA 2015, Police Act 2020 and provides step by step guidelines on  NPF-DPP-FMOJ cooperation aimed at – (a) promoting early engagement of a law officer of the DPP-FMOJ to guide NPF officials on ingredients relevant to establish an offence under investigation for a prosecution-led-investigation; (b) early notification and engagement of a prosecutor from the DPP-FMOJ in investigation of cases the DPP-FMOJ is solely empowered to prosecute and; (c) encouraging police prosecutors to be part of DPP-FMOJ team during prosecution for an investigation-led-prosecution.

Furthermore, the Standard Operating Procedure emphasizes the importance of utilizing liaison officers and the need for consistent joint trainings between investigators and prosecutors to exchange knowledge on common issues and share lessons learnt.

The development and adoption of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) became necessary when a gap between investigators and prosecutors of the NPF and DPP-FMOJ was discovered by the Investigation and Prosecution Sub-Committee of the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee (ACJMC) inaugurated in December 2017, by Hon. Justice Ishaq Bello the former Chief Judge of the FCT to enhance inter-agency cooperation amongst law enforcement agencies. This in turn led to the inauguration of an NPF-DPP-FMOJ focal group by Hon. Justice Husseini Baba-Yusuf, in May 2022 to formalize bilateral cooperation between NPF & DPP-FMOJ.