Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said the Nigerian justice system must embrace technology and innovation for efficient service delivery.
Osinbajo said technology is imperative for the evolution of the profession and national development.
The vice president revealed this in a statement by his spokesman Laolu Akande on Monday in Abuja.
He said when he delivered a pre-recorded speech as a guest speaker at the 2021 Annual Law Week of the Lagos branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
The theme of the event is “Disruption, innovation and the bar”.
Osinbajo said technology and innovation would ensure that the country’s justice delivery mechanism is based on a system of enforceable and discernible laws and effective institutions.
The vice president said the country’s justice system could support essential investments in the current vibrant economy.
“Questions should also be asked about preparing our profession to engage in new markets as presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA).
“Nigerian banks and financial services are already crossing borders in Africa, acquiring banks in several African countries.
“Thus, AfCTA will open up new cross-border business opportunities, and our profession should pay attention to the rules of engagement for legal services and how they can propel our business. “
Innovation in Nigeria’s legal profession requires urgency to fit into the world that thrives on the knowledge-based economy and jobs threatened by digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI), VP says .
He cited the example of how the continuous improvement in the quality of smartphone cameras has disrupted global digital camera sales.
“AI is commonly used to perform tasks such as legal research and due diligence, reviewing documents and contracts, and predicting legal outcomes – these are tasks that would have been performed by lawyers.
“With the continued advancements in technology, it’s only a matter of time before the time capsule catches up with us in Nigeria.”
He called for continuous improvement in the institutional capacity of judges, court registries, court staff and court infrastructure.
Osinbajo said that with digitization having already disrupted other industries, it was possible to predict that AI would go further and disrupt the business model of the legal industry.
“For example, the AI legal department called ROSS is an AI system that can seek out and offer legal advice on questions that may be asked by lawyers.
“And ROSS is then able to provide an answer; a well thought-out legal opinion, taking into account case law and statutory authority in order to be able to reach this conclusion.
“So providing predictive legal advice is no longer the exclusive domain of lawyers, and over the years, it will become even more so.
“We are part of the global market for investments and legal services.
“So the extent to which we can attract business to our country depends in part on investors’ perceptions of the quality of our justice delivery system; If we are seen as inefficient and inefficient, we would lose out to more efficient systems. “
On the issue of the delay in the process of delivering justice in the country, Osinbajo said the country’s justice system should find ways to address jurisdictional challenges, especially delays in court judgments, among others.
“I appealed to the Court of Appeal in 2013, only to learn yesterday, when I was discussing with former colleagues at the law firm where I worked, that the appeal to the Supreme Court is not even registered to be heard in 2021.
“As someone said; our problem is not access to justice, it is exit from the justice system with a credible result.
“Shouldn’t we develop a cost allocation system that recognizes the tribunal as a finite public resource, and as such delays and other delaying tactics face disincentive costs?” “
The Vice-President said that Law Week, as well as future engagements, provided an opportunity for legal practitioners to reflect.
He suggested a hybrid approach to legal education in the country and urged the association to consider the impact of technological innovation on legal education in the future.
“Even mock trials can be conducted more efficiently online, and courtroom processes can be videotaped and reviewed by students multiple times. Of course, we can still keep the court and chamber attachments, ”he said. (NAN)