The International Federation of Women Lawyers(FIDA) has advocated the establishment of Family Court in Kaduna State in order to fast track the prosecution of Gender-Based Violence.
Speaking when FIDA paid a courtesy call on Governor Nasir El-Rufai at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House on Wednesday, the state Chair of the association, Barrister Zainab Atoba said that the proposed court will promptly handle cases of rape, defilement, wife battery, child abuse, child labour and marriage issues.
According to the FIDA chair, the regular courts are burdened with too many cases and ‘’they can hardly give us what we want and in good time. ‘’
The FIDA chair also suggested that Sexual Assault Referral Centres should be created in at least every Primary Health Centre in Kaduna state if possible, or in all the 23 local governments.
‘’We also call for the establishment of more Sexual Assault Referral Centres in Kaduna state as this will allow for purposes of proximity. We have people who have cases of rape, defilement and other GBV crimes but have transport challenges to travel to any SARC centre that is closest to them,’’ she argued.
Barrister Atoba also called for the appointment of more high court judges and amendment of some sections of the Child Welfare Protection Law and the Penal Code.
FIDA also presented the Hausa translation of Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Kaduna State(2017), which was done by the association, to the governor.
Responding, Governor El Rufai thanked FIDA for the visit and promised the government will do whatever it can to support the association in order to make it more effective.
The governor lamented that rape and Gender-Based Violence has become an epidemic as the data is worrisome, adding that he knows the role that FIDA has been playing to ameliorate the problem.
El-Rufai said that his administration has been clamouring for both Family Courts and Small Disputes Courts , where minor disputes ‘’ can be easily resolved without recourse to legal procedures, so that the load on our justice system will be reduced.’’
‘’We are also working to have more judges in the state. I think that Kaduna state needs 20 more high court judges. We put in a request to the National Judicial Council but we are not getting the appropriate response; we got approval for only four,’’ he revealed.
The governor said that Kaduna state even offered to pay the salaries of these judges that the government requested for because ‘’our high court judges are over worked.’’
According to El Rufai, the average workload of a high court judge in Kaduna is over 200 cases. ‘’No human being can handle that efficiently. It is delaying justice and also encouraging impunity,’’ he added.
The governor revealed that people who were taken to court for the violence that took place in 2016 are yet to be convicted. ‘’And that is why we had another outbreak recently. If people are being convicted, then it will send a lesson,’’ he added.
