September 6, (THEWILL) – Magistrates in the Cross River State Judiciary have been trained on the operation and practice direction of the newly established Small Claims Court.
The three-day training took place in Calabar during a stakeholders workshop on Alternative Dispute Resolution for Magistrates.
The Small Claims Court is one of the State’s actions on business-enabling reforms, which the State is implementing through the Cross River State Enabling Business Environment Council.
Other partners include the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning (FMFBNP), Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Nigeria Governor’s Forum (NGF) and the World Bank.
Speaking during the workshop, the Champion of the SABER Reform in the State, Dr. Glory Effiong, said the SABER programme aims to improve both national and subnational business environments.
“Saber programme development objective aims to improve both national and subnational overall business environments.
“These include efficiency of land administration, regulatory framework for private investment in fibre optic infrastructure, presence of state investment promotion agency, as well as services provided by investment promotion agencies.
“One of the strategic initiatives adopted by many States towards quick determination of commercial disputes is the establishment of Small Claims Courts to promote, encourage and facilitate alternative dispute resolution mechanisms for small claims as an alternative to trial,” she said.
She added that they are working progressively with the State judiciary to support the establishment of Small Claims Courts, hosting the state judiciary website and indeed organising workshops on alternative dispute resolution for magistrates.
She assured stakeholders that magistrates, who attend the workshop, will return with valuable insights and practical strategies to handle small claims matters more efficiently, thus enhancing the overall performance of the State judiciary.
Speaking on the benefits of the Small Claims Court and issuing the practice direction for the court, the State Chief Judge, Justice Akon Ikpeme, said the court will improve jurisprudence in the State.
She explained that everything from filing to ruling will be completed within 60 days and where there is ground for appeal, it will not exceed 30 days.
She added that at the Small Claims Court, issues like technicalities and right of objections as interlocutory injunctions will be taken off and addressed during judgment.
She also disclosed that the jurisdiction of the court is five million naira and that rather than going to the regular court and waiting years, the court will fast-track cases because it has to finish on time.
Speaking on the legal framework and procedural overview for Small Claims in Cross River State, a professor of law, Justice Victor Offiong, said no magistrate will assume jurisdiction of any case if the value of claim is above five million naira. In addition, if a claim is more than five million, parties cannot split it to beat the law.
He added that judgment for any case in the court must not exceed two weeks after the conclusion of hearing.
He stressed that the essence of the court is to render judgment speedily, make adjudication of cases simple, fair, and inexpensive and also conduct cases at minimal cost to litigants.
The SABER programme is a three-year performance-based intervention initiative designed to incentivise and strengthen the implementation of business-enabling reforms across the 36 States.
Its core mandate is to remove bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria and make States a progressively easier place to start and grow business.
THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
