Welcome Remarks by Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George, SAN, President Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at the Workshop on the theme: Towards National Minimum Standards for effective implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 and Administration of Criminal Justice Laws (ACJLs) held at the Ceremonial Court of the Court of Appeal, Maitama, Abuja from 9th to 10th December, 2019.

Protocol
It gives me pleasure to welcome you all to this workshop which is
convened to deliberate on the proposed national Minimum Standards for effective Implementation of the federal ACJA and ACJLs of the various States. 
As you are probably aware, our organization the CSLS provided the requisite technical assistance to the Federal Ministry of Justice and the National Assembly in developing and enacting the ACJA 2015. 
We have also provided technical assistance for several states in developing the ACJL. 
Our Centre is one of the organizations actively engaged in promoting reform of criminal justice administration. Our strength lies in the support we enjoy from all of you and in our focus on criminal justice reform which we consider pivotal to the emergence of a secure, stable and sustainable democratic society. We are conscious of the fact that several of the developmental challenges facing our country are due to the low capacity of the criminal justice system to prevent or punish wrongdoing and reward positive contributions.

This Workshop will rally the support of Stakeholders in all the States of the Federation for the development of basic or common minimum standards for the effective Implementation of the ACJA/ACJLs. We will identify common elements in the federal ACJA and ACJLs of the various states. We will then propose standards based on these common elements. These will be deliberated upon at this workshop and the agreed standards will be developed into benchmarks or indicators and shared with the federal government, state governments, development partners and the general public. In other words, we are beginning the process of identifying and agreeing on the minimum standards by which the federal government and the states will be evaluated with respect to the implementation of the ACJA and ACJLs.
 About 21 indicators will be proposed for consideration at the Workshop. The indicators will be formally presented to the forum of State Governors as well as the National Economic Council and the body of Attorneys-General. In 2020, a National Review Workshop will be held to prepare the FCT and the States for the First National Evaluation Process. The Evaluation will yield three Categories of States: 
Category A will consist of states which have made significant progress in respect of at least 14 of the 21 indicators. 
Category B will consist of states which have made significant progress in respect of at least 7 but less than 14 of the 21 indicators. 
Category C will consist of states which have made significant progress in respect of less than 7 of the 21 indicators. 
With the help of development partners, we will design appropriate technical assistance and reward packages for the various categories of states. These will include formal presentation of trophies, funding of local and foreign training, provision of equipment, recommendations for federal and international grants-in-aid and other rewards.
Further details will be shared during the working sessions of this workshop. It suffices to state that, we are committed to bringing about improvements in our criminal justice system and thereby strengthening the economy and democracy. 
I want to thank you for believing in us and for joining us for today’s inaugural workshop. We appreciate the personal sacrifices you have made to be here today which is also the International anti-corruption day.

We salute the development partners who have always identified with our country’s developmental challenges. These include the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, GIZ, UK-DFID, the British Council, the World Bank, African Development Bank, the European Union, the TY Danjuma Foundation, the Canadian High Commission, UK Aid, USAID, US Embassy, Embassy of Japan and others.
This process will also involve the training or sensitization of as many Nigerians as possible in order to broaden the category of citizens who can use the ACJA/ACJLs indicators to demand improved delivery of justice and good governance at all levels. For example, Citizens can use their knowledge of the law and performance indicators to demand that government take serious action to improve administration of justice, reduce delay in the trial of cases, digitalize the courts or carry out other measures for improving administration of justice.
In order to strengthen citizens participation in justice reform, we will extend our capacity building activities to non-lawyers because we realize that the ACJA, ACJLs and related laws are not for lawyers alone. Many of those who operate some aspects of the justice system are non-lawyers. These include investigators, court officials and some police prosecutors. Indeed, the members of the public have one role or the other to play in ensuring effective implementation of the Act and ACJLs. This number gets wider as more states adopt the ACJL. Not less than 30 states have so far done so and others are in the process.
It is therefore necessary for more people to know the provisions of the Act and the various ACJLs. It is our hope that the participants in this workshop will use the knowledge gained and the indicators to improve their work while also sharing the knowledge with others.
The methodology of the workshop is interactive. Paper presenters will create room for comments from the participants and questions and answers.
We are elated to observe that the Courts have taken a positive attitude towards the ACJA/ACJLs. They have largely embraced the innovative provisions of the Act. It is noteworthy that the apex court has adopted a progressive approach to the ground-breaking reforms introduced by the ACJA. We laud the well-considered decisions of the Supreme Court in such cases as: Olisa Metuh v. FRN, Destra Investments v. FRN, Daudu v. FRN and Dasuki v. FRN. and others. 
Let me seize this opportunity to appeal to the executive arm of government, particularly the Security agencies not to undermine our hard-earned democracy by desecrating the courts. They must learn to resist the temptation of using the coercive powers of state to interfere with the other arms of government particularly the judiciary.  The action of some security personnel who allegedly invaded the Federal High Court to arrest a defendant must be condemned in the strongest terms possible. It is barbaric and unacceptable in a democracy as ours. If they must arrest a suspect, why must they do so right inside the court? It must be made loud and clear that any attempt to trample on the Independence of the judiciary will not augur well for democracy. 
My Lords, Distinguished participants, Ladies and gentlemen, let me welcome you once again to this Workshop. We will do our best to make it a fulfilling experience for all participants. I therefore humbly urge you to pay full attention and participate fully in the Workshop.

In closing let me thank our collaborator, the Federal Ministry of Justice for partnering with our Centre to hold this Workshop. Similar appreciation goes to the civil society organizations and the media for their participation. I wish to single out the MacArthur Foundation and the EU RoLAC for their constant support for our efforts to advance criminal justice reform and accountability in Nigeria. We thank my Lord, the President of the Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa, CFR for granting us the permission to use this Ceremonial court hall.
I thank my colleagues at the Centre as well as the staff for the efforts that went into putting this Workshop together.

I wish us very fruitful deliberations.