By Innocent Anaba

To ensure easy access to law reports, research materials to make writing of rulings and judgments easy for judges of the Lagos State judiciary, the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, has provided iPads for judges in the state.

The judges were, recently, trained on the software, with legal research platform, which includes decided cases, civil procedure rules, Laws of the Federation, amongst other legal resources.

They were also trained on robust case/document management system on the software, which makes it possible for judges to monitor and view their cause list based on the entry of cases done in the case diary.

The event, an iPad training session, was organised by Law Pavilion, a leading law report centre and law software provider in conjunction with Lagos State judiciary at the Judges Recreation Centre, Ikeja.

Speaking on the essence of the training, Managing Director of the company, which is championing IT revolution in Nigeria’s legal practice, Mr. Ope Olugasa, said the training was aimed at deepening the CJ’s vision of employing ICT knowledge to improve the administration of justice.

in the state

He said that the event, which started two weeks ago, and saw over 22 judges in attendance, was aimed at ensuring that those products bought were ultimately maximized as well as to familiarized the judges with new features like case management.

“The whole case management system is wrapped together in a project management process to engender creativity and efficiency in the dispensation of justice in Lagos State. There was also an integrated the National Judicial Council monthly report form for the Judges which will make it easier for the Judges to prepare and file their performance returns to the National Judicial Council, NJC.”

Olugasa noted that the soft ware would aid in monitoring judges’ performance in as peer review mechanism, adding that judges could proactively monitor their performance, report weekly or monthly report of their performances.

He said the company also planned the training of court registrars on case management to ensure that quick dispensation of justice is achieved in the state.

On the part of the lawyers, he said they were working the Nigerian Bar Association to develop case management for the lawyers after that of the judges because of the Bar’s critical roles in ensuring quick dispensation of justice.

“We are aware that there are other stakeholders in the business of ensuring quicker administration of justice, and we are poised to reach all of them with user- friendly soft wares,” he said.