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KWARA STATE HIGH COURT PRACTICE DIRECTIONS 2020: A CONSIDERATION OF ITS PROVISIONS ON ELECTRONIC MEANS OF SERVING COURT PROCESSES - Adedapomola G. Lawal, Esq.

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Service of court processes is fundamental to the jurisdiction of the court. Thus before a court can exercise jurisdiction over a matter, it must be satisfied by credible evidence that the opposing party has been served with the process initiating the matter or cause. Failure to serve the process on the other party(ies) constitute a clog in the wheel of the jurisdiction of the court. Due to the current corona virus pandemic and in order to keep the wheel of justice moving unimpeded, efficiently, speedily and to safeguard the health and lives of members of the Bench and judiciary staff and members of the Bar and other court users , the Kwara State High Court has issued a Practice Direction titled "Kwara State High Court Practice Direction No. 1 of 2020". The Direction has five (5) Items bordering on applicability, filing and service of processes, obtaining new dates for pending cases, admittance of persons to court premises/court rooms and physical court sittings. However, on...

THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF REMAND PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE NIGERIA CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM - Adedapomola G. Lawal, Esq.

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The provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are sacred and as such they must be complied with and every institution must conform to its provisions. Furthermore, every law made in Nigeria must be in conformity to the provisions of the constitution and any law made that is contrary to the constitution is void to the extent of its inconsistency. In 2015, as a way of reviewing the already existing legal framework for criminal prosecution in Nigeria, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 (the Act) was passed into law by the National Assembly. Among the provisions of the Act is a part dedicated to Detention Time Limits (Remand Proceedings) covering from sections 293 to 299. Subsequent to the passage of the Act in 2015, the Act has been domesticated by many states of the federation with some modifications. However, the provisions of the Act and the laws of the states on remand proceedings remain substantially the same though the titles for this part h...

COVID 19: BETWEEN THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE AND THE PROTECTION OF THEIR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS - Adedapomola G. Lawal, Esq.

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The basic responsibilities of our Government is security and the welfare of the people from whom they derived the authority to rule. The authority to rule the people was reduced to a written grundnorm referred to as the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In order words, to maintain the authority to rule the people, the policies and actions of the government must be as contained in the constitution. Otherwise, there could be a state of anarchy. It was in February 2020 that the first case of Covid19 was confirmed in Nigeria and since then it has continued to spread like wildfire. It is not gainsaying that the virus is life threatening especially to certain vulnerable individuals in the society. It is therefore the responsibility of the government to ensure that the people are protected from the scourge of the virus. The death of loved ones is painful. True. However, since the emergence of covid19 in Nigeria, several steps had been taken by the government in an attem...