60th NBA AGC: Lawyers tackle topical dsicuss "shifting the paradigm to the virtual judical Age"

Conference
By Sandra Umeh
Lagos, Aug. 27, 2020

Speakers at the 60th edition of the Annual General Conference (AGC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Thursday, said that there is now a dire need for the legal community to shift the paradigm to the virtual judical Age, and keep in tune with evolving global technology.

They made this known during a break out session at the 60th edition of the NBA AGC,, while speaking on the Topic: Shifting the Paradigm the Virtual Judicial Age.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NBA AGC 2020, is tagged " Step Forward".

It is holding both virtually and physically from Aug. 26 to Aug. 29 in Lagos and Abuja.

At the Thursday virtual session, the Moderator, Mr Oba Nsugbe (SAN) welcomed all speakers and prompted them on what their take was on the Virtual Age.

In her remark, Chief Mrs A.J Offiah (SAN) believes that for the nation to keep fully abreast with virtual technology, there ought to be a lot of sensitisation cutting across all facets of the society to keep them in tune with the new normal and also get them to buy into the process.

According to her, there is also the need for policy changers to accept the fact that things have changed and also be disposed to changing along that line.

She suggested that our grundnorm as well as the evidence Act, requires a "revisit" so as to reshapen them to accommodate the virtual age.

"Our legal framework requires a total overhaul in this regards; for instance during a trial when the court needs to conduct a visit to the "locus in quo", we find that there is a question as to how such visit is to be conducted Virtually.

"It then means we need to take a look and revisit our Evidence Act, to ascertain how the legal frame work can be changed in that regard ," she said

Offiah also noted that it is important to overhaul both the nation's registries , archives, and other legal outlets to keep them in tune with the recent technology.

She added that although it may be difficult to "jump" into such technological sphere at a time, but also urged that once we have the mindset and will to achieve same, then it makes it easier to achieve set goals

Offiah also advocated for trainings of judges, registrars and court offficals and also urged the NBA to take a measure step in ensuring it provides trainings for its members and all those who are crucial to the process

On his part, The Director of Public Sector Microsoft, Mr Damola Solanke, adviced that to achieve a feat in Virtual technology especially in our court system, there are certains modalities that should be out in place.

"Judges and advocates should be given time to prepare for virtual proceedings so as to make the process seamless; Instructions should be passed before such virtual sittings to serve as a guide on the process," he said

According to him, the procedure for such virtual proceedings should also be shared before hand, so that participants are kept alert to follow the process unhindered.

" Virtual proceedings and court hearings are here to stay and technology is the enabler we need to adopt; There ought to be a lot of training and learning and we need to be open to that.

"Microsoft will be here to support the country and the Justice industry.," he said

Meanwhile, a guest spaker, who is former Attorney General of Kenya, Prof. Githu described the virtual process as a new normal which. will greatly enhance the legal profession, if imbibed.

"I think what this confirms is that this is the future and we will never go back again and the sooner we learn to practice around it the better for us and I think it is not only about the big law firms , city law firms, the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal

"This is the new normal for every court and I think it will make our profession better for it; it is a revolutionary movement in our profession and we should embrace it," he said

In her remark, another guest speaker, Mrs Paula Hodges, (Queens Counsel) said it is obvious that the world will not go back as it is already imbibed as a global form of dispute resolution.

She hopes that the process will be welcomed by all countries across the world to bring the process forward. adding that this will help the court and the judicialry.

"I really hope that this will enrich the process well in our diversity; obviously, we all got to learn and we can get it right with the right preparation ," she said

On his part The Solicitor General of the Federation Mr Adedayo Akpata, noted that as the whole world continues to contend with the pandemic we are constrained to adapt and adjust to the disruption it has caused us such as in court matters and administration of Justice .

"What we need to do is to move with the tide and in moving with the tide, we need to consider what the world sees as a pandemic, as an opportunity for us to move forward," he said

NAN reports that the NBA 2020 AGC now has about 25, 000 registered delegates

Physical attendance at the Conference is holding at both the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos, as well as The NBA Headquarters in Abuja, with not more than 30 persons allowed at the venue.

The conference is to showcase 30 law sessions on topical discuss and which are to be anchored by renowned Nigerian legal practitioners