Court delays make justice costly, inaccessible — Adekunle, SAN

Adekunle Olamide, a partner at Afe Babalola & Co., has been sworn in as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) at the age of 40. In a recent interview, she discussed several issues surrounding justice delivery in Nigeria, including court delays, high legal costs, and poor infrastructure. She believes that court delays are the primary root cause, with the other issues being direct effects or multipliers.

According to Adekunle, delays in the legal process significantly impact the cost of litigation. Every adjournment is billed at professional time, and the litigant also bears the cost of lost working days. The criminal justice system faces a similar challenge, with awaiting-trial persons making up a large proportion of the custodial population. She emphasizes that justice should not be sacrificed for speed, as delay is detrimental to the advancement of the judiciary and there is room for improvement.

To tackle the issues of affordability and accessibility to legal services, Adekunle points out that existing frameworks already exist, such as the Legal Aid Act and court rules providing reduced costs for indigent parties. She stresses the need for better publicity surrounding these initiatives, as many citizens are unaware that such assistance is available to them.