The Challenges of the Appellate Court Structure in Nigeria: The Way Forward

Abstract

For Nigeria to attain the much desired socio-economic, political development, stability and suitability, the presence of an effective and efficient Justice system is paramount ,which will establish and guarantee the maintenance of laws and regulations of the state citizens behaviors and relations. There is no doubt the Nigerian Justice System is faced with numerous problems, therefore proper explorations need to be made into the justice system to seek the ideal, explore what the citizens will gain from it and the real situation. This is in order to uncover the trend, institutional roles and impediments and make recommendations on how to achieve optimum effectiveness and efficiency of the system for the overall development of the Nigerian State and citizenry. This paper seek to examine the effect of work overload in Justice Administration in Nigeria; how the Court structure in Nigeria can be improved within the context of federalism; the possibility for the appellate Courts to be restructured by necessary constitutional amendment to make room for Specialization in the mode of sittings at the Appellate Courts; to equally find out how case management can be accelerated in order to minimize delays in Justice Administration. Doctrinal method of research is adopted which involved the systematic analysis of statutory provisions and of legal principles. It is my finding that there is the need for the overhaul of the system to ensure efficiency, speediness
and effectiveness of the process. The paper recommended the possibility of restructuring the Court System by necessary Constitutional amendment and government policies to improve justice delivery in Nigeria.