AN APPRAISAL OF PRE-TRIAL PROCEEDINGS IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATION FOR QUICK DISPENSATION OF JUSTICE

The pursuit of interests made dispute is inevitable in any social context. Dispute occurs whenever people disagree over their rights, values, motivations, perceptions, ideas, or desires. The existence of dispute among people entails that there must be a means and process of resolving same through established courts or tribunals. The courts and tribunals established to resolve conflicts are overcrowded due to the complexity and frequency of both local and international transactions and commercial activities. As the number of cases grew, delays, formalities, technicalities, corruption and adjournment in the courts became the order of the day, primarily, due to Nigeria’s adversarial justice system. Delay prompts injustice of the highest order. In order to solve the problems of delay and to ensure quick dispensation of justice in Nigeria, pre-trial proceedings and conferences were introduced in our new rules of courts for the purposes of disposing matters which can be dealt with on interlocutory application, adopt a procedure that will secure the just, expeditious and economical disposal of cases, and to promote amicable settlement of disputes through alternative dispute resolution. This study is aimed at examining the causes of delay in the administration of justice in Nigeria, with a view to ensuring a quick dispensation of justice through the instrumentality of pre-trial proceedings in Nigeria. In doing this, the study tried to identify and examine the causes of delay in the dispensation of justice in Nigeria, the effect of delay in the administration of justice to the Nigerian economy, the implication of adversarial justice system in delaying the dispensation of justice in Nigeria, the pre-trial proceedings in the rules of court in Nigeria and how it will encourage speedy dispensation of justice and the application of pre-trial conference by Nigerian judges and lawyers. This study is predicated on the doctrinal research methodology which involves the analysis of Statutes. Acts, Laws, case law, Rules of court, journals, seminar papers, articles, books, internet and many other library sources. The study finds out that causes of delay in the dispensation of justice in Nigeria is as a result of defects in our civil procedure system; abuse of the judicial system by lawyers; judges’ failure to take firm control of proceedings and lack of effective case management; adversarial justice system being practiced in Nigeria and many more. Delay in the administration of justice in Nigeria affects foreign investment, it may lead to the disobedience of court’s orders and judgements, resort to self help and the miscarriage of justice. Despite the laudable provisions and advantages of pre-trial conference in our rules of court, its application toward a quick dispensation of justice in court by lawyers and judges is still a mirage because lawyers do not seem to be interested in pre-trial conference.