The opening Plenary Session of the 3rd full day at the NBA-SLP Conference in Abuja was convened to discuss the topic, “Legal Practice, Domestic Violence & Child Abuse Matters: A Jurisdictional Comparison.’
Chaired by the retired Supreme Court Justice, Hon. Justice Ejembi Eko, the panel consisted of Hon. Justice Opufaa Ben-Whyte; Mrs. Amina Suzanah Agbaje; Mr. Olumide Omosebi; and CSP Dolapo Badmus.
NEWSWIRE Law & Events Magazine correspondent reports that the panelists began by noting that domestic violence – defined as a pattern of behavior used to gain control over a partner – has become a global pandemic. India, the world’s second most populous country, has 30% of rates of domestic violence on the planet, while the United States of America has about 10% of the global scourge. They also noted that a child who grows up in a home wracked by domestic violence is likely to become violent growing up. Even though women and girl-children suffer the most from this scourge – in terms of numbers – domestic violence affects men and women alike.
While Nigeria can boast of robust laws to counter the scourge (such as the Domestic Violence Act and the Child Rights Act, both of 2003, which have been adopted in a number of states), the panelists lamented that more often than not, these laws are only observed in the breach, and many cases are under-reported, anyway.
They pointed out that the Domestic Violence Act does not treat violence as criminal offence, and where criminality applies, challenges militate against the delivery of justice, such as the slow pace of the justice system. Another challenge, they added, is the unfortunate tendency by law enforcement and even judicial authorities to treat the issue as a family matter, and not take up the matter legally.
The panelists took a hard look at the causes of domestic violence and child abuse, which include, among other things, unemployment, societal disorder, and lack of education.
Calling attention to the problem of stalking (which is a form of harassment and even abuse) the panelists called for the enactment of a law against the practice, as is the case in jurisdictions like Turkey. Agbaje in particular advised lawyers to take up domestic violence cases on a probono basis wherever possible.
NEWSWIRE Magazine’s correspondent reports that Day 3 of the Abuja SLP confab also featured a second plenary session which considered the topic, “Law Practice In The Digital Age: Balancing Professional Responsibility And Technological Innovation’.
Chaired by the Hon. Justice Peter A. Akhihiero, the panel was graced by such personalities as the Hon. Justice O. O. Oyewumi; a tech lawyer, Mena Ajakpovi and Inemesit Dike; Emmanuel Edet of NITDA; and Dr. Maryam Shehu Mohammed.
Stressing the need for the legal profession to move away from its dyed-in-the-wool conservative ways in response to recent advances in technological innovation, a panelist, Mrs. Dike stated that technology is here to stay and lawyers should take advantage to be able to succeed as 21st century professionals. Other panelists also took a look at the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the often-expressed fear that it may be poised to take over human jobs. The remedy for this, they said, was for the tech-savvy lawyer to acquire deeper knowledge and also gain a better grasp of the Artificial Intelligence Act, the Data Protection Act, and other related legislations – and how they help the lawyer to offer premium advice and deliver better and smarter legal services to his clents.
The 3rd plenary session of Day 3 at the Abuja SLP Conference was the much-anticipated session on ways of exploring the frontiers of dispute resolution in investment matters in Nigeria – with a focus on the Investments & Securities Tribunal (IST).
The Chairperson of the session, Hon. Amos Issac Azi was joined by a distinguished cast of panelists (the majority of them from the aforementioned Tribunal) such as Hon. Jude Ike Udunni; Hon. Nosa Smart Osemwengie; Onyedikachi O. Edeh; as well as an academic, Prof. Augustine R. Agom of the Ahmadu Bello University; and the former Chairman of the NBA Lagos Branch, Alex Muoka.
Though the law that created the IST is a civil law, the possibility of arbitration as a mechanism for the resolution of disputes and clarification of thorny transactions can be accommodated under the law. A panelist, Hon. Osemwengie stated that the financial market, which is divided into the Money Market and the Capital Market, is a key area in which the IST has a jurisdictional interest. Noting that the IST used to have jurisdiction over pension matters, though not anymore, he insisted that it wasn’t an inferior court, as appeals from the IST goes up to the Court of Appeal. Also, the Federal High Court can enforce jurisdiction from an IST ruling or any other court of record if the Federal High Court does not have jurisdiction.
The final full day of the SLP Conference featured a trio of so-called ‘Byte Size Series’, in which selected speakers enlightened the assembled conferees on a number of little-known but vitally-important subjects and practice areas. Charles Philip Adeogun spoke on ‘Cross Border Crime Prosecution/Defence And The Concept of the International Anti-Corruption Court’, while Fernandez Marcus-Obiene spoke on ‘CHATGPT and its Potential Impacts On Law Practice.’ The third subject was an interactive Q&A session on the Business Facilitation Act.
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