The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL), a civil society group, has highlighted the pressing need for a national justice framework in Nigeria that involves traditional institutions to enhance access to justice throughout the country.

Ijeoma Nwafor, the Country Representative of HiiL, spoke at the launch of the 2024 Justice Needs and Satisfaction (JNS) survey. She emphasized the importance of establishing a mechanism for community-based legal dispute resolution and properly categorizing family disputes to ensure timely and appropriate responses from relevant authorities. Nwafor stressed that issues like sexual-based violence against women should not be buried under the umbrella of mere family disputes.

The JNS report, which presented data from two waves of surveys, revealed that 81 percent of Nigerians had encountered at least one legal challenge in the past year. Out of the 184 million people who experienced legal problems, only 35 percent had their issues fully resolved in the first wave. In the second wave, there was a slight improvement, with 40 percent of cases fully resolved.

The report also highlighted that while 84 percent of those facing legal challenges took action to resolve their problems, only 5 percent sought the help of lawyers. The majority turned to community leaders (9 percent), landlords (4 percent), and religious leaders (6 percent) for solutions.

Nwafor pointed out the significant gap in access to justice, particularly in rural areas, and urged for improved mechanisms that leverage traditional institutions to bridge this divide. She noted that overburdened courts often lead to slow and ineffective justice processes.

HiiL’s findings emphasize the critical need for a comprehensive framework that incorporates traditional institutions to ensure more effective and accessible justice for all Nigerians. The group advocates for a people-centered approach to justice that prioritizes the legal and justice needs of individuals to effectively resolve legal disputes.