Nigeria
The following Justice Initiative projects are underway in, or relevant to, Nigeria:
International Justice
International crimes before national and regional courts.
The Justice Initiative submitted an amicus brief in support of ongoing litigation against former Liberian president Charles Taylor in Nigeria’s Federal High Court in Abuja in November, and has engaged U.S.-based consultants to undertake a “Follow-The-Money” investigation into Taylor’s finances. The Justice Initiative has also commenced preparatory work leading to legal challenges against Côte d'Ivoire before the Courts of Justice of West Africa’s two regional economic bodies, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Union Economique et Monitaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA). Undertaken in collaboration with the governments of five/six West African states (to include Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ghana, Guinea, Mali and/or Senegal) whose nationals have been victims of gross violations of human rights in Côte d'Ivoire, the project involves consultations with NGOs and advocates in the region. The Justice Initiative will seek to offer legal expertise to the Secretariat of ECOWAS. The cases are expected to be launched in the second quarter of 2005. Amicus Brief to the Federal High Court, Letter to the Nigerian Attorney General, Charles Taylor case, NGO Coalition Letter and Press release
Equality and Citizenship
The Africa Citizenship and Discrimination Audit.
The Audit is surveying the law and practice concerning citizenship and discrimination in fifteen countries: Angola, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Ethiopia, Egypt, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Compilation of relevant legislation, regulations and judicial decisions began in 2004. Through 2005, affidavits will be collected from individual victims of discrimination. The Audit will result in a comparative report on trends in citizenship, ethnic discrimination, and citizenship-based discrimination across the continent. Where results are sufficiently detailed information and local partners are willing, the project may lead to national-level litigation or law reform advocacy. Report of the Audit's Preparatory Meeting, July 19-20, 2004
National Criminal Justice Reform
Legal aid reform in Nigeria.
Capitalizing on a recent decision to reform Nigerian legal aid services, the Justice Initiative arranged a study visit for a government working group to South Africa, in September 2004. South Africa’s legal aid system, which uses interns, networks of legal clinics, and paralegals, to complement its formal legal aid service, has special relevance for Nigeria. The project seeks low cost solutions to address the effective absence in Nigeria of legal aid for indigent defendants, as well as acute over-incarceration in pretrial detention facilities. The aims include the establishment of a system of duty solicitors at police stations and courts and to ensure prompt decisions on arraignment and prosecution of persons alleged to have committed criminal offences in Nigeria. Nigerian Legal Aid & Pretrial Detention Project
Nigeria: Police oversight and professionalization.
Since 2003, an initiative to develop Nigeria’s Police Service Commission (PSC), a constitutional police oversight body, into an effective mechanism, and to professionalize police performance to meet the country’s human rights obligations, has been underway in partnership with the Center for Law Enforcement Education in Nigeria (CLEEN); and the Vera Institute of Justice. A review of the PSC’s internal management mechanisms, oversight roles and responsibilities was conducted and a national workshop convened to focus policymaking attention on the PSC. An electronic database for managing, storing and retrieving information on the conduct of members of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), was constructed and tested by the PSC. In November 2004, the Justice Initiative and CLEEN participated in a forum to review Nigeria’s 1943 Police Act. In the coming year, the Justice Initiative and CLEEN will work with the PSC and NPF to develop standards and guidelines for effective police service delivery, and to refine the PSC’s powers of recruitment, promotion and discipline over members of the NPF. Interactive Report on Nigerian Police Forum and NORPIN
Freedom of Information (FOI)
Nigeria: FOI adoption.
FOI legislation exists in South Africa and is under discussion or drafting in Ghana, Mozambique, and Zambia. Nigeria is now close to adopting a Freedom of Access to Information Bill. Recent passage of the bill in Nigeria’s House of Representatives on August 24, 2004, was partly due to relentless advocacy by the Nigerian FOI Coalition, involving the direct collaboration of the Justice Initiative and OSIWA among others. The bill is now before the Senate; once it passes there, presidential assent is required for enactment into law. Edetaen Ojo's analysis
Access to Information Monitoring Tool.
In 2004, the Justice Initiative Access to Information Monitoring Tool measured levels of government transparency in 16 countries, including six in Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa). Monitoring will establish benchmark levels of transparency and identify opportunities for reform, to be accompanied by advocacy of constitutional and legislative reform where needed. South Africa, with a law in place since 2000, is a particular focus as a potential example for the rest of the continent. With OSF-SA and the Open Democracy Advice Centre, the Justice Initiative is exploring advocacy following the recommendations of its 2003 Access to Information Monitoring Tool report, which might include promotion of an Information Commissioner and the provision of amicus curiae help in litigation.
FOI Advocates Network.
The Justice Initiative has taken a lead in establishing and sustaining the FOI Advocates Network, which currently has 53 members, including five from Africa, and a dedicated website (www.foiadvocates.net)
Freedom of Expression
African Union (AU) Research and Advocacy Project.
In 2005, a series of linked activities will promote the rights to freedom of expression and information in Africa. These include an analysis of African commitments and declarations on media freedom, freedom of expression and information, and the development of recommendations for reform. An audit of media freedom will be undertaken in selected African countries to analyze compliance with existing African and international standards. A coalition of civil society organizations will engage the AU leadership to promote a binding continental instrument on free expression guarantees. The project aims to create an informed and articulate constituency of civil society actors, equipped to work in advocacy directed at national governments and the AU.
Capacity building and networking: the Oxford Media Law Advocates Program.
Ten media lawyers from Africa participated in the Justice Initiative’s 2004 summer school, now in its third year, with an expanded program including African participants for the first time. Summer School Program and Press Announcement
West Africa Media Lawyers Meeting.
The Justice Initiative assisted the Media Foundation for West Africa in designing the first meeting of its sub-regional network of media defenders. Justice Initiative attendance enabled a concrete contribution to the network’s strategic planning.
Legal Capacity Development
Clinical legal education in Africa.
In 2005, the Justice Initiative will consolidate early successes in two years of clinical engagement in Africa. A new generation of clinics will be guided towards institutional independence within their respective universities, through the development of clinical teaching standards and legal practice. Efforts will continue to establish several pilot clinics in Francophone West Africa and to assist in developing French-language clinical resources. Nigeria will be a focus in 2005, building on the enthusiasm there among several universities wishing to establish legal clinics.
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and African regional courts.
Since July 2004, the Justice Initiative and the Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, an alliance of NGOs, have engaged in dialogue with the Commission of the African Union on the best ways to integrate Africa’s various regional courts without delaying the establishment of the human rights court. In the course of 2004, the Justice Initiative, together with the Coalition and the AU, developed a set of guidelines for nominating candidates to the human rights court bench. In 2005, the process will aim to expedite the integration of the human rights court and the AU’s Court of Justice, following an AU decision of July 2004. The Justice Initiative provided legal advice to Kenya and Botswana enabling cabinet-level consideration of ratification of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights Protocol to take place.
Fellows in Africa.
In 2005, five or six fellows from West and Southern Africa will be recruited for programs at the Central European University, Hungary, and up to six from Angola and Mozambique for placement in Sao Paulo University in Brazil. Human Rights Fellows Program, CEU