Achieving Easy Access To Justice In Nigeria - A Speculative Analysis On The Relevance Of Paralegal Service
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ACHIEVING EASY ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN NIGERIA: A
SPECULATIVE ANALYSIS ON THE RELEVANCE OF
PARALEGAL SERVICE
H. Diram, Faculty of Law, Modibbo Adama University, Yola Nigeria
Amina Mohammed Ali, College for Legal Studies, Yola - Nigeria
ABSTRACT
Speculative analysis on the involvement of paralegals in the Nigerian justice delivery system is based on the need to promoting easy access to justice as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). This paper looks into the role of the legal aid scheme in Nigeria and its impact on providing access to justice to the indigent population especially those living in the remote communities where qualified legal practitioners do not want to go for a token. The indigent population on the other hand cannot afford the services of these qualified lawyers. Thus, due to their social status, they hardly achieve easy access to justice. It is due to this impediment that this paper through both doctrinal and interviews analyses the relevance of the paralegals who are aware of the rudimentary aspect of the law but are not grounded as qualified legal practitioners.
The paper concludes that the paralegals quite sure have the idea of law and procedure, their involvement will in no small measure assist the indigent clients reach the desired goal, they are cheaper and accessible at all times. The paper recommends that these paralegals include the law clinic students, whose role will be impactful on enhancing access to justice in Nigeria. So there is need to permit the law clinicians to appear before law courts even if it is restricted to lower courts only for the indigent clients on pro bono services. Keywords: Paralegals, Access to Justice, Indigent, Legal Aid, Nigeria
1. Introduction
One of the heritage the British colonial system left in Nigeria towards accessing and dispensing justice1 has been the one-way traffic of the justice system. Thus justice would not be achieved unless through the law courts, which is an adversarial in nature. Whenever the matter in controversy rest on the infringements of rights and obligations, aggrieved parties resort to law courts for the enforcement of such infringement with no other option. Filling legal proceedings in the law courts against the perpetrators has been the only machinery for seeking legal remedies. The procedures for seeking remedies in the law courts are very cumbersome to the understanding of laymen because the rules by which the court procedures are couched are in such a way that only the lawyers would understand and use them appropriately.
Parties to legal action very often get judgements in their favour yet they do not at all times get the desired satisfaction. More to this is the fact that relationships that has been built over the years between the parties before they resort to courts vanish in thin air and where care is not taken the parties may become enemies henceforth. Apart from breaking down ties of relationships, litigation usually takes longer period than necessary. Instead of healing wounds within the long period, it aggravates hatred and huge resources are spent not only on legal representations but also on filing fees and shouldering the responsibilities of witnesses for the period that the case will take before determination.
This is the process through which the Nigerian citizenry accesses justice - through the adversarial justice delivery system and upon engaging qualified lawyers for legal representation. It should be noted that the situation could have been different, where the means of seeking justice is supplemented, and representation in the courts is opened to persons other than qualified legal practitioners. This paper, therefore, seeks to assess the effectiveness of the legal aid scheme to the poor and villagers as well as to study the desirability of involving paralegals in enhancing access to justice in Nigeria.
2. Adversarial Justice System in Nigeria
The structure of the Nigerian Legal system is a replica of that of the United Kingdom. This fact can be inferred from the reception date of the common law, the doctrine of equity, and the statutes of general application which made up the Received English Law. When Nigeria was 1 The concept of justice as captured in this paper refers to fairness in protection of rights and punishment of wrongs. While all legal systems aim to uphold this ideal through fair and proper administration of the law of the land, it is possible to have unjust laws. This is also the understanding of International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria
receiving these laws, it has as well adopted the English system of adjudication and dispute resolution which replaced the indigenous traditional justice system. The English justice system received by Nigerians was adversarial in both nature and principles and by the representative capacity of a qualified legal practitioner. It is a system whereby justice is attained according to law through the intervention of a supposedly neutral party (Judge) who through the interpretation and application of law makes pronouncements upon the rights, obligations, and liabilities of each litigant who may have instituted an action before him through a lawyer. 2 In this procedure justice and its attainment must be dispensed according to what is written in the laid down rules of law and the process filed by the parties.
More often the outcome of this system of justice delivery is legal justice that is to say it is a justice reached according to law devoid of other considerations3 such as the parties’ relationship before the emergence of their differences. Majority of disputes adjudicated through this system are in a representative capacity where a legal practitioner is engaged to stand for the litigants, who in turn pay for the services rendered. 4 In this respect litigation carries the trademark of dispute resolution in all common law jurisdictions. The characteristics of this system include the fact that it is too formal and parties file suits that are in the company of court processes which must rely on rules of evidence and procedure. In situations where these procedures are not followed strictly, the matter may be struck out on technicalities other than merit.
This brings about the necessity of engaging a qualified legal representative who can do all these based on his expertise. It is important to note that outcomes of cases in an adversarial justice system are decided and based on the factual question of the case and the applicable laws. The decision of the court is binding and not advisory. However, both parties have the right to appeal against the judgment to a higher court. The judicial system is wholly adversarial in nature which can only be understood by qualified lawyers. The notion of courts is that it is a place where differences are settled but because the current system is adversarial this notion therefore makes the courtroom a place where dispute begins. Viewed from this perspective, a scholar observed that: 2Anyebe, P. A.
, ‘Accessing and Dispensing Justice in the 21st Century Nigeria: ADR and IT as Tools for Judicial Reform – An Overview’, (available at www. nials. org visited on 25th December 2014 at 11:05am) p 4 3Peters, D. , Alternatives to Litigation: The Multi-Door Court House Concept, In Yusuf, O. A. F. (ed. ) Issues in Justice Administration in Nigeria, (Nigeria: VDG International Ltd, 2008) p 435 4Anyebe op. cit.
Disputants more often than not and without attempting any other forum for the resolution of their dispute proceed to court with the hope and aspirations of seeking redress and obtaining justice. Unfortunately, these hopes and aspirations are often dashed, not just by the adversarial and rancorous nature of the proceedings, but also by the long delay and high cost in terms of both time and money expended. All these are in addition to relationships and or business destroyed in the process of seeking justice through the adversarial process. 5 This adversarial system conflicts with the central opinion in which once the parties have invoked the jurisdiction of the court it is its duty to investigate the facts and the law and give a pronouncement according to its view of the justice of the case concerning any public (community) interest that may be involved or affected.
6 It ought to also have an interest in promoting unity within and around the community but the adversarial system does not at all times include this consideration while making its decision between parties who appeared before it. The Nigerian adjudicatory system is less perfect. It is too formalistic and technical. It elevates form over substance. These elements made the arrangement difficult and costly for indigent clients. Moreover, litigation is recognized as the only judicial means of attaining justice, thereby making judicial proceedings seemingly inaccessible to most people. 7 Thus, adversely affects the confidence of the ordinary people. Many people consider the entire legal system as having too much root in English concepts and, basically a colonial leftover.
8 Many of the legal concepts used in the legal system have not been part of the African experience and therefore could not cover African realities. This tends to exclude the traditional community’s role in safeguarding relationships through justice within indigenous societies which focuses on better management of human relations through conciliation or compromise of disputes. 9 Furthermore, a litigant’s success in the court again is dependent on a chain of variables and factors. For instance, the concept of legal justice may, to a very great extent, depend on the 5Peters op. cit. p 438 6 Azinge, E. , ‘The Adversarial System of Adjudication: Problems and Prospects’, (Being a Paper Presented at the 22nd Advanced Course in Practice and Procedure held at Nigeria Institute of Advanced Legal studies, Lagos between 8th to 26th July 2012. 7Beredugo, A. J.
, Nigerian Legal System: An Introductory Text, Third Edition,(Lagos: Malthouse Law Books,
2009) p 197
88 Anyebe op. cit. p 6
9 Ayua, I. A., ‘Nigerian Legal Profession: Problems and Prospects’, in I. A. Ayua (ed.) Law, Justice and the Nigeria Society, NIALS Commemorative Series I, (Lagos: NIALS, 1995) p 6
calibre of attorney whose services a litigant can afford to pay for and hence the monetization of justice thus the saying that justice is for the highest bidder. 10 Should justice lean towards the higher bidder then the consequences would not be far away from loss of confidence of the masses in the whole adversarial system. Hence the question of losing hope in the whole administration system of the country and this will not augur well for unity, peace, and progress of the country. Thus, the words of Justice Arthur Vanderbilt are instructive: It is in the courts and not in the legislature that our citizens primarily feel the keen, cutting edge of the law. If they have respect for the work of the courts, their respect for the law will survive the shortcomings of every other branch of government.
But if they lose their respect for the work of courts their respect for law and order will vanish with it to the great detriment of the society. 11 The adversarial procedure that tends to obstruct the course of peace, unity, development, and progress needs a re-examination. 12 This is because the system encourages lawyers to stain the evidence that is positive to the opposition while at the same time harassing evidence positive to opponents or preventing the fallacy of evidence on his side from being discovered. 13 The problems affecting access of justice through the adjudicatory process in Nigeria include cost of justice, too many cases in the courts, trial delays and denial of justice, inadequacy of judicial personnel, archaic system of adjudication, corruption, lack of modern management technology, and the absence of case management techniques.
14 As stated earlier, the problem of delays suffered by litigants appears to be the most persistent of them all. The Courts are therefore overburdened. The effect is thus as stated by Ronald L. Olson, Chairman of the American Bar Association Special Committee on Dispute Resolution: Increased urbanization, broadening government involvement in everyday life, and waning of non-judicial institutions traditionally engaged in dispute resolution have combined to produce an unprecedented explosion - of formal litigation. Judicial institutions have not kept pace. As a result, courts have been congested, living costs and
10 Anyebe op. cit. p 6; Ayua, Nigerian Legal Profession op. cit. p 6; Peters op. cit. p 436
11 Vanderbilt, A., The Challenges of Law Reform, (Princeton: University Press, 1955) pp. 4 - 5
12 Anyebe op. cit. p 7
13 Ibid
14 Diram, A. H. op. cit. p
delays have reduced the effectiveness of the judicial system, and justice as well as mercy has become more remote.15 Although the courts are recognized as the most visible dispute betters, it is recognized that, while litigation is one way of resolving legal controversies, it is not always the most effective or efficient method because of the challenges associated with it.
3. Challenges in the Adversarial Justice System
As we already established above, the adversarial system of justice delivery could not develop access to justice in Nigeria, due to its failure to achieve the goals of justice. This would tantamount to denial of justice. Denial of justice delivery is caused by several factors. These factors would in themselves translate into various issues that place further challenges on the adversarial system. A cursory look at these factors identified ineffective legal aid schemes, cost of litigation, severance of relationships, and lack of paralegal policies in Nigeria. This paper may therefore discuss some of these challenges and proffer recommendations for upgrade.
4. The Legal Aid Scheme
The Nigerian Legal Aid Council was established under the promulgation of Legal Aid Decree No. 56 of 1976 then as amended Legal Aid Act Cap L9, Laws of the Federation of Nigerian
2004 which has been repealed by a new Legal Aid Act 2011. The establishment is to provide
free and timely legal services, ensuring Social Justice and emancipation of the oppressed, and reprieve to the weak and vulnerable in giving voice to the voiceless. Therefore, it can be said that Legal Aid has made a good start in Nigeria and is also achieving success at a moderate pace. However, majority of the people remain far away from the reality of courts and justice which is their fundamental right because they are not duly represented. What is essential is a widespread legal aid program that will specifically deal with the grassroots levels of the society but the Nigerian Legal Aid Council is not adequately funded. 16 If legal aid programs are well funded, they should also be able to get to know the concerns of the people (their needs and problems).
In Nigeria, legal aid refers to the financial assistance given to those people who are unable to bear the cost of legal proceedings. It includes rendering of free services by the lawyers and
15 Anyebe op. cit. p 9
16 Bob-Manuel op. cit. p 10
also the introduction of various schemes to provide monetary help for the commencement of proceedings. 17 Over a while, various countries including Nigeria have tried to introduce legal aid schemes and have been quite successful in implementing it. 18 Legal aid is the only tool available to the poor by which they can successfully take their disputes to court. This is because it will be virtually impossible for the poor and rural masses to bear the heavy costs of the court fees and lawyers’ fees in case, they have a dispute to be settled in the court. These people, because of their economic backwardness and impoverishment, do not know and have the means to approach lawyers directly. 19 It is at this point that the importance of legal aid can be seen.
The availability of legal aid results in easing access to justice for the people because they may begin to have more confidence in the legal system of the country. If there are no proper legal aid schemes, then it denies the citizenry who are unable to financially afford the services of a private legal practitioner, the basic right of access to justice. a) Factors Affecting Legal Aid in Nigeria Legal Aid Scheme is an establishment of the Federal Government of Nigeria, invariably Nigerians are encountering certain challenges. The most conspicuous ones are:
1) Lack of access of legal aid by villagers
2) Lack of adequate Funding.
The services expected of legal aid providers for the poor in Nigeria depend on the financial resources available to the Nigerian Legal Aid Council,20 the number of legal professionals under its payroll, the nature of the justice system, and the modes of delivery used. The available financial resources will determine the nature and extent of the legal aid that may be provided. Whereas it is estimated that developed countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States spend about US$ 32 and US$ 2. 25 respectively per person on legal aid, developing countries like South Africa and Nigeria spend about US$ 0. 50 and US$ 0. 002 per person. 21 17 Bob-Manuel, J. , ‘Legal Aid Council’, (Being a Report Presented at Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, Held at Abuja, August 2012) p 5 18Kumar, M. V. P.
“Access to Justice”, (Being a Project Report submitted to University of Law, Hyderabad,
2004) p 11
19 Manuel op. cit. p 2; Kumar Ibid p 11
20 Bob-Manuel op. cit. p 10
21 Kumar op. cit. p 11
Also, the size and structure of the legal profession in a country will determine whether there are sufficient lawyers to serve the needs of the poor compare to the population of the country. Also part of the consideration is whether there are law graduate interns as public defenders for criminal cases. It can be seen that the majority of cases handle by the Nigerian Legal Aid Council are criminal in nature. 22 Unless lawyers take the initiative and voluntarily take part in legal aid programs, the delivery of legal aid will only be a dream. 23 This is because in Nigeria it is only a lawyer who is qualified to represent client in law courts and unless he comes forward willing and accepting to assist, legal aid programs will not succeed. Lastly, the nature of the national legal aid structure will determine how effective the delivery of legal aid services is to underprivileged people.
For example, South Africa has tried a variety of methods of delivering legal aid - some borrowed from other countries and some homegrown. These include charitable work by lawyers, judicare or legal aid-funded private lawyers, public defenders employed by legal aid, legal aid-funded law clinics, and legal aid partnerships with paralegal advice offices. 24 This fact is nowhere to be found in Nigeria. Therefore, for Nigeria to have an effective legal aid scheme three lessons have to be learned from the South African experience, which are not used in Nigeria:25
1) For legal aid to be delivered successfully to indigent people, lawyers must be paid for
their services.
2) For countries with limited resources, a holistic approach must be adopted that
involves government, non-governmental organizations, university law clinics, and private lawyers 3) Law graduate interns can be employed successfully as legal aid lawyers in rural law firms and as public defenders in legal aid-funded justice centres.
5. Involving the Paralegals in Easing Access to Justice in Nigeria
The plight of the indigent sections of Nigerians to achieve easy access to justice is noticeably challenging due to the cost involved. This situation can be well portrayed as posited by Franz Kafka in his book ‘The Trial’, when he wrote: Before the Law stands a doorkeeper. A man from the country comes to this doorkeeper and asks for entry
22 Bob-Manuel op.cit. especially criminal and civil cases chat at p 3
23 Kumar op. cit. p 11
24 Kumar op. cit. p 12
25 Ibid
into the Law. But the doorkeeper says he cannot grant him entry now. The man considers and then asks if that means he will be allowed to enter later, “It is possible,’ says the doorkeeper, “but not now. ” Since the door to the Law stands open, as it always does, the doorkeeper steps to one side and the man bends to look inside through the door at the interior. When the doorkeeper notices this, he laughs and says: “if you are so tempted, just try to enter in spite of my prohibition. But take note: I am powerful. And I am only the lowest doorkeeper. But from room to room stand doorkeepers each more powerful than the last. The mere aspect of the third is more than even I can endure.
” Such difficulties had not been expected by the man from the country the Law is supposed to be accessible to everyone and at all times, he thinks, but as he looks more closely at the doorkeeper in his coat of fur, at his great pointed nose and his long and straggly black tartars’ beard, he decides it would be better to wait until he gets permission to enter. 26 This indicates that accessing the law for the indigent in Nigeria is terrifying. The same could be said for the poor of most African countries. Many doorkeepers are standing between the citizens and justice. There is a duty on the part of the government to ensure that the doorkeepers facilitate and do not block the way to law and justice. The poor and vulnerable who make up the majority of population in Nigeria find themselves at a crossroads when it comes to accessing law and justice.
Firstly, as we have seen, the majority of them are indigent and illiterate in both the real and legal senses. Thus, they lack the capacity of knowing the law even with nominal education. To make matters worse, they are confronted by maxims like “ignorance of the law is not a defence” which threaten them with consequences in case of crossing the undefined line. Secondly, the few lawyers who know the law have made it their monopoly and this service is only available at a cost that the majority cannot afford. Thirdly, even where the poor could afford to engage the services of lawyers in those serious and life-threatening situations, lawyers are few and mostly available in urban areas where only 26 Franz, K. , The Trial, (London: Penguin Books, 1994) p 166; see also Pinter, H. , The Trial: Adopted from the Novel by Frank Kafka, (London: Faber and Faber, 1993) pp. 60 – 62; see also Peter, C.
M. , ‘Creating a Role for Paralegals in the Administration of Justice in Africa’, in Oliver, M. and Sippel, H. (eds. ) Administration of Justice in Africa: Effectiveness, Acceptance and Assistance (Deutschland: Rudiger Koppe Verlag, 2008) p116
the rich citizens live. The question is what should the rest of the population do to be able to access justice easily too?
6. Greasing the Hinges of Achieving Easy Access to Justice in Nigeria
It is without doubt from any quarters that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
1999 (as amended) has provided for the achieving easy access to justice in Nigeria, the poor
population, however, finds the hinges towards achieving this goal too stiff.27 These category of the population in Nigeria should resort to the services of non-lawyers or paralegals to assist them in legal matters since most of their matters hardly go to the higher courts rather to the lower courts which in Nigeria are found and situates in the local communities where the poor and vulnerable live.28 The question is who are these paralegals? There is no agreed or common definition of who a paralegal is. A definition has been couched as follows: A paralegal is a person who has either received
rudimentary law training or has been trained in the basics of law to give legal advice to communities and individuals about their legal rights, human rights, administrative matters, and constitutional and development problems. Paralegals are also ... to provide legal education and assist community organizations. The word ‘para’ means ‘in the same way as’ or ‘in support of’.29 Despite the elusive nature of the definition of a paralegal, there are certain distinguished features with which persons referred to as paralegals are associated. These features are:30 a) They are non-lawyers; b) They are trained by lawyers and social workers; c) They are literate; d) They possess good communication skills; e) They are respected and trustworthy;
27 Diram, A. H.
28 Ardo Yahya is a Village Petitioner in Yola, Nigeria. Interview with the Researcher on the 27th July 2013 at Yola High Court Complex 29 Francina, M., ‘A Comparative Regional Analysis of Paralegal Work in Southern Africa’, (Being a Paper presented at the South African Women in Law Indaba organised by Legal Assistance Cluster between 6th and 7th May 2006 in Pretoria, South Africa)
30 Peter, C. M., op. cit. p 117
f) They have a voluntarism spirit; g) They can work in a team; h) They are mature; and i) They are reachable. The list is not exhaustive, one has as many as there are qualifications of a qualified legal practitioner. However, despite having these common distinguishing features, in Nigeria different jurisdictions assign different names to them. Some refer to them as community justice facilitators, peer educators31, etc. No matter the nomenclature a particular jurisdiction refers to them, it is obvious from what is explained above that paralegals are not professionals in law. They are persons with some rudimentary ideas about the basic elements of law. 32 They have not been to any Law School, Faculty of Law, or an institution training lawyers. 33 The majority of them have received some elementary training in the basis of law.
Others have been involved in the practical aspects of law through practice as former court clerks, court interpreters in the magistrates, Area or Customary courts, or law firm secretaries. 34 Some may even be very good in law but all of them share one characteristic — they are not recognized as lawyers or advocates under the law of the land. They may have other professions in which they are involved and for which they are trained (e. g. teachers in the primary schools or secondary schools as it is the case in Nigeria, medical assistants so also the case in Nigeria, office clerks etc. ). 35 However, if called upon, they can explain to the rest of the population in the communities where they live what the legal problem is and how it could be settled. 36 This is an important asset they possess — the rudimentary knowledge of law capable of sorting some legal problems in the community.
Therefore, one is not wrong to say that there is this bulk of citizens with a specific amount of knowledge that could be put to positive use and assist a considerable part of the population but is left unused to benefit the community.
31 Ibid
32 John S. A. is a Legal Practitioner in Yola, interview with the Researcher in Yola on 25th July 2013; Alhaj, B. K. is a Legal Practitioner in Maiduguri, interview with the Researcher in Maiduguri on the 20th July 2013 33 Justice Musa Adamu, a Judge of the Borno State High Court, interview with the Researcher in Maiduguri on the 20th July 2013 34 Zadon, L. D. a legal Practitioner in Yola interview with the Researcher in Yola on the 27th July 2013
35 Ardo Yahya op cit
36 Bakari, S. M is an Inspector in the Inspectorate of the Adamawa State Judiciary, interview with the Researcher in 2012 at Yola
It should be realized that paralegals have one big advantage in a community especially where lower courts exist, they will go into villages and localities where qualified lawyers may not go. 37 In this regard their access to justice will be enhanced effectively, easily, and less expensive - because of their exposure to other professions which they possess as teachers, medical assistants, etc. they can possess a particular level of respect in society and will be regarded as part of the community and hence there is the likelihood of been respected and honoured. 38 And as Nigerians, this recognition will encourage them to serve their respective communities better. However, in Nigeria, paralegals are to be used with caution as what is referred to as the ‘Nigerian factor’ may influence them to abuse their role.
39 Currently, what happens in almost all the Nigerian lower courts especially those that are cited in the urban areas is not healthy. There are certain people whose only job is to go in between litigants and lower court officials in matters of adjudication. When a village dweller has a matter in court, these people will either purchase the case from the real litigant or make a demand for some amount of money from the litigant in order to influence the decision of the court. 40 They are called different names depending on the jurisdiction, for instance in the northern part of Nigeria they are referred to as ‘village petitioners’. This is because of their influence on the judiciary, for instance if a lower court judge is not careful with them, they can petition him to the higher authority. They are also called ‘charge and bail’ just like how they are referred to in the southern part.
This is because their most prominent job is to charge suspects; or to bail them out, or a combination of the two. The problem attached to this fact is that the ‘village petitioners’ extort money from lower court judges as well as from the litigants otherwise the ‘defaulter’ may either be demoted or transferred as in the case of a lower court judge or his case be frustrated as in the case of a litigant due to their influence in the judiciary. 42 The surprising aspect is that these people are not learned in law but know the court procedure beyond one’s imagination. They are too 37 John Gabriel is a Village Petitioner, interview with the Researcher at Numan on the 10th of July 2013 38 Baba Dauda, a Charge and Bail (Paralegal) interview with the Researcher in Jalingo on the 11th November 39 Justice Agiya, a High Court Judge in Taraba State, interview with the Researcher in 2017 in Jalingo
40 Buba Manga, a litigant in Mayo Balwa Town of Adamawa State, interview with the Researcher in Mayo
Balwa Area Court on the 3rd of February 2012 41 Alkali Abubakar Habu, an Area Court Judge in Gombi, Adamawa State, interview with the Researcher on 13th January 2012 42 Mafa Joseph, an Area Court Judge in Lafiya Lamorde, interview with the Researcher on the 10th of July 2012
familiar with court proceedings. Most of them are either retired police officers or retired criminals.43
7. Conclusion and Recommendation
In this regard, as an antidote for the weaknesses of the paralegals in Nigeria will not be out of track to engage the students of law clinics to participate in the lower courts as paralegals do in the developed jurisdictions where they are utilized to enhance access to justice through representations, advice, and sensitization. This would be facilitated through a collaborative venture between the National University Commission (NUC), Council for Legal Education (CLE), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), the Federal and state ministries of Justice, and the National Judicial Council. Paralegals will play a vital role in promoting easy access to justice for indigent clients in Nigeria. Apart from dispelling delays in the justice sector, they will also aid in reducing the cost of engaging qualified legal practitioners.
The importance of involving paralegal in the justice sector is that many simple cases may not even got to the court halls as the parslegals may make efforts of settling them out-of-court. This will drastically reduce the court dockets, thus reducing fatigue on the part of the judges. This paper will recommend that government should licence clinical law students to be engaged and appear in the lower courts for indigent clients without a fee (pro bono) for their services.
43 Ibid