The Federal Government has inaugurated a high-powered committee of law experts in various fields for the review, update and consolidation of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) after 20 years.
The move, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN said, was in line with the Federal Government’s policy objectives of enabling socio-economic growth and advancing legal reforms.
Speaking during the inauguration of the 46-member committee, chaired by Mr. Olawale Fapohunda, SAN and co-chaired by the chairman of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission, Prof Jummai Audi in Abuja, Fagbemi said, he was concerned about the inability to update the Laws of the Federation since 2004, to enable clarity, predictability, consistency and uniformity in the body of laws.
He said, the general purpose of law was to protect public interest, regulate human behaviour and interactions between corporate entities.
According to the AGF, the law is constantly dynamic and evolving, hence, the need for continuous review or reform of the body of laws (corpus juris), to address contemporary socio-economic developments, resolve conflicting and obsolete provisions with the ultimate aim of improving the administration of justice and promotion of the rule of law.
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The AGF said, “The review, update and consolidation of the Laws of the Federation, 2004 is long overdue in order to reflect and consolidate legislative developments (inclusive of repeals, amendments and enactments) from 2004 till date, in furtherance of the law development mandate of the Federal Ministry of Justice.
“The expected key areas of focus for the Committee in the instant exercise are identification of outdated laws which are not in line with contemporary needs and values, as well as harmonization of conflicting laws, to ensure uniformity and consistency.
“This is with a view to attracting socio-economic growth and investment, promoting efficiency and adapting to technological advancements”, the Minister stated and added that, the Committee was deliberately set up with individuals with vast professional experience and technical expertise in various aspects of the justice sector.
The terms of reference for the committee which has six months to turn in its report to the AGF are, to coordinate the collection, collation and compilation of Nigeria Laws up to 2024, work with relevant government agencies in harmonizing the Laws up to 2024 and cross check, edit and proof-read all the legislations to be collected.
Other terms of reference are to, identify all Legislations not included in the 2004 edition of the LFN and update same, identify outdated or redundant laws in the current LFN that need repeal, merge laws addressing related matters to eliminate redundancy, prepare a comprehensive report of findings to the AGF/Ministry of Justice thereafter and perform and undertake any lawful assignment incidental thereto.
The AGF charged members of the committee to work in synergy and exhibit patriotism, in the overall interest of the nation and expressed the hope that the report of the Committee and copies of the draft volumes of Laws of the Federation 2024 will be ready within the six months time frame.
Fagbemi who, expressed his gratitude to the leadership of the National Assembly, the Nigeria Law Reform Commission and Nigerian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, for also supporting the initiative, assured that the Ministry will always be available to provide institutional support and assistance where required, in order to ensure that the Committee achieve its mandate.
Responding, the chairman of the committee, Fapohunda, who thanked the AGF for the composition of the committee, assured of meeting the expectations of the Ministry of Justice and the country in general.
The committee’s chairman said, the calibre of persons on the committee, who are experts in their various fields will ease the work of the committee and will also ensure an outcome that would be of the over all interest of the general public.
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