To encourage inclusiveness and help illiterate litigants to get access to justice, the Lagos State Small Claims Court practice direction has been translated into five indigenous languages – Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Egun and Pidgin English.
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The state Chief Judge, Justice Opeyemi Oke, at the public presentation of the indigenous practice direction noted that it was designed to encourage self-representation by litigants so as to reduce expense and delay processes by lawyers.
According to the CJ, a handbook which explained each step of the process and provided answers to every conceivable question was provided alongside the practice direction.
She said, “In fulfilment of one of my many goals and aspirations for my tenure as the Chief Judge of Lagos State, the Small Claims Court was established with 15 magistrates courts spread across the seven magisterial districts. The Small Claims Court had in the past one year operated as the fast- track commercial division of the Magistrate Court in Lagos State.
“The Small Claims Court simplified procedure was designed to encourage self-representation by litigants thus reducing expense and delay which may be occasioned by the filing of complex pleadings and processes by lawyers.
“No doubt, the Small Claims Court in the past one year has fulfilled its objective which is to provide easy access to an informal, inexpensive and speedy resolution of simple debt recovery disputes in the magistrates courts of claims, not exceeding N5m.
“To further encourage inclusiveness and greater access to the Small Claims Court by litigants that are not literate in English, the practice direction and handbook have now been translated into five local languages i.e. Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Egun and Pidgin English by judges of the High Court of Lagos State, whose names have been acknowledged in the different translations.
“This effort will further improve the performance recorded so far, both in terms of the number of cases filed and duration between filing and delivering judgment, since the litigants would more likely understand the process and procedure be greatly encouraged and more confident to represent themselves.”
The Chief Judge further noted that the court had been able to deliver 530 judgments out of 850 cases filed by litigants within the last 10 months of its sittings in the seven magisterial districts of the state.
The chairman of the committee in charge of the translation of the practice direction, Justice Yetunde Adesanya, noted that the new development would encourage more litigants to bring their commercial cases to court.
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