FOI (Freedom of Information) Counsel in collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) (Benin Branch) is hosting an online and in-person event in commemoration of Open Data Day on the 27th of March, 2021. The theme of the event is: OPEN JUSTICE
Information is a key mechanism for innovating the law. Open legal data/ information is the foundation to a dynamic legal system. Citizens can review available information to evaluate criminal justice outcomes so as to provide valuable insights for policy making. Judiciary constitutes as essential element of the society, beyond the budget template for law and justice, we do not the specific amount for judiciary in Edo State. We do not know their salaries, judgment per judge annually.
Despite ongoing development in open government initiatives and constitutional provision on open justice, the notion of openness in the judiciary is still opaque and unexplored in terms of emolument, judges’ selection criteria, and publication of lower court’s judgments among others.
Today, we analyze precedent to identify patterns of common winning in courts with the potential to identify best practices. Huge array of datasets and statistical complications on crime (arrest, demographic, criminal offenders (sentencing, parole, substance use of juvenile, datasets on violence against women and divorce listing (gender divide of divorce applications).
Proactive disclosure initiative has become a defining goal for public administrators around the world. However, progress is still necessary outside of the executive and legislative sectors. There is a need to know what justice in terms of access, exploration and feedback. Till date, most of the rules of court are offline. Cause lists are manually prepared the day of the case. There is dearth of law and justice datasets at the national and sub national.
The target audience for this event, comprises of Members of the Nigerian Bar Association, Civil society actors and General Public. There is need for proactive disclosure in justice sector as a forward thinking legal effort. During the event, scholarship shall be awarded to four indigent tertiary institution students.
Moderators:
- President Aigbokhan (FOI Counsel)
- Abbo Leon (Edo Innovation Hub)
SPEAKERS
- Mr. Pius Oiwo, Esq (Chairman of NBA, Benin Branch)
- Hon. Justice Eseohe Ikpomwen Rtd (Former Chef Judge of Edo State)
- Abbas Inuwa (Executive Director of TransparenceIT)
- Mr. Joseph Otteh, Esq (Executive Director of Access to Justice)
- Com. Austin Osakue (Executive Director, FFGGSC)
- Mr. John Osawe (SA to the Governor of Edo State on Data Analysis & Visualization)
- Hon. Isaiah Osifo (Former Chief of Staff to Edo State Government)