Bauchi Assembly recommends special court for gender-based violence

The Bauchi State House of Assembly on Wednesday expressed concern over the growing insecurity in Nigeria.

This followed the presentation of a document titled: “Bill for a Law to Provide For Administration of Criminal Justice In The Courts of Bauchi State And For Related Matters 2022,” by the Chairman of the House Committee on Justice and Judiciary, Bello Muazu Shira, at the plenary in Bauchi.

He said the committee engaged stakeholders on the administration of justice in Bauchi State to support and facilitate the critical review of the bill.

Shira said: “The Committee observed that the 2018 Administration of Criminal Justice Law in the state remained impossible to be implemented for quite sometimes due to numerous existing gaps and flaws that characterized the law, thus the reality necessitated the dire need to review and amend the law.

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“The Committee worked in collaboration with the stakeholders and the Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative knowns as Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN) for indepth and comprehensive review of the bill in which they discovered many drafting errors, duplicate provisions and cross-referencing gaps in several sections of the Bill which are likely to cause controversies and legal complications during implementation of the law.

“We also observed that the reviewed law will meet the realities associated with administration of justice generally and many provisions omitted in the 2018 Administration of Criminal Justice Law were incorporated in the Bill to make it to conform to international standards. Some of the provisions included in the bill such as Sections 47, 51, 52, 304,322 and 442 will enhance quick dispensation of justice.”

He, therefore, urged the House to adopt the recommendations and pass the bill into law.

The lawmakers unanimously adopted the committee’s recommendations including the designation of a special court by the state chief judge to handle all cases of sexual and gender-based violence in the state, among others.

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