COVID 19: Supreme Court To Deploy Technology To Hear Backlog Of Appeal

As the federal government continues to battle the challenges posed by the deadly Corona Virus disease, the Supreme Court yesterday hinted of plans to deploy technology and the handling of its huge backlog of appeals before it.

About a month ago, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), ordered the temporary suspension of court proceedings across the country as part of measures to curtail the spread of the pandemic.

While denying report about the non-functionality of its official e-mail address, the Supreme Court said plans are ongoing to upgrade its information technology facilities to the extent of holding virtual proceedings.

Dr Festus Akande, Director of Press and Information at the Supreme Court, who made the disclosure in a statement made available to judicial reporters, said that the move is aimed at leveraging on the emerging options at the court’s disposal to deliver on its mandate so that the justice sector does not suffer any major setback before resumption of normal court sittings.

There is need to reiterate our initial position that in view of the current lockdown of most states of the federation and the FCT, as a result of the ravaging global coronavirus pandemic, the Supreme Court has started upgrading its Information Technology facilities with a view to holding virtual proceedings within the shortest possible time. Even with the lockdown, the court has been sitting and giving judgments, particularly for cases that are time-bound.

“The virtual meeting of the National Judicial Council on Wednesday and Thursday, 22 and 23 April, 2020, is part of the modern technological platforms being enthroned by the Nigerian Judiciary and we hope to leverage on the emerging options at our disposal to deliver on our mandate so that the justice sector does not suffer any major setback even before we resume our normal life,” he said in the statement.