An advocacy group under the aegis Access to Justice has faulted the Sheriff And Civil Process Act, 2004 for being a huge challenge on why judges can not redress cases that borders on violation of human rights.

The group Executive Director, Joseph Otteh and the Project Director, Deji Ajare in their statement on Friday, titled: “SHERIFF AND CIVIL PROCESS ACT2004IS ARGUABLY THE SINGLE, BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO THE JUDICIARY’S ABILITY TO REDRESS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHST AND UPHOLD THE RULE OF LAW IN NIGERIA: IT SHOULD BE ABOLISHED NOW” said that for thousands or hundreds of thousands of Nigerians, redressing the violations of fundamental rights is a fruitless exercise or an unpromising gamble. Giving his reason he said that where aggrieved persons or families surmount all the odds inherent in prosecuting a claim through the court, they will routinely face a virtually insurmountable brick-wall – the lack of effective redress; the ultimate inability to access any remedy the court has awarded them.

“One major reason why most efforts to hold public institutions – particularly law enforcement and security agencies – accountable often draw blank is because of limitations placed on the power of courts of law to enforce their judgements by the Sheriff and Civil Process Act (“SCPA”) 2004. Section 84 of the SCPA requires a successful litigant must first seek and obtain the consent of the Attorney-General of the Federation (or of a State, if a State account is implicated), before an award of a monetary sum can be obtained from the accounts of the (Federal/State) government or any of their agencies.

“When courts adjudicate claims asserting the violation of constitutional rights and award monetary reliefs against governmental institutions or agencies, it is expected that these institutions will abide by the judgments and willingly pay up. Not so for a lot of agencies! Often, judgement creditors have to subsequently apply to court for an order garnishing funds from the accounts of any adjudged debtor institution or agency to meet the judgment award.

“However, citing and using this legislation, public institutions (including law enforcement and security agencies) have resisted efforts to garnish funds in their accounts on the basis of the SCPA. The Sheriff and Civil Process Act 2004, therefore, is arguably the greatest obstacle to the enforcement of human rights in Nigeria because it restricts the ability of Nigerian courts to protect human rights, enforce the rule of law, and check impunity on the part of security and law enforcement agencies.

The group also accused the Central back of Nigeria and the Attorney General of Federation for shielding some of the public institutions who are found liable to pay the court debt thereby giving them the avenue to resist efforts to hold them accountable.

“Some courts have ruled that litigants can indeed recover their monies from accounts of debtor public institutions in commercial banks, and, following this, many agencies – particularly the Nigeria Police Force – have, in collusion with commercial banks, used disingenuous methods to disguise and mask their accounts, and rendering them unrecognizable and impregnable, and therefore inaccessible. The Central Bank of Nigeria (“CBN”). is presumptively aware of these deceptive banking tactics, yet turns the blind eye.

“In frustration, many litigants have sought to obtain judgment debt sums from source,i.e. through the CBN.Unfortunately, the Central Bank of Nigeriahas itself obstructed and frustrated those efforts too, and, in case after case, the CBN has challenged efforts to hold public institutions accountable and uphold the rule of law by fighting to the hilt,endeavoursto enforce monetary judgements against abusers through the Bank. By doing so, the CBN actively aids institutions which abuse human rights, promotes the culture of impunity within them and prevents those institutions from implementing internal changes to improve their delivery of services, their relationship with the public and make them less vulnerable to being lawsuitedfor the violation of human rights. By doing so, the CBN also contributes immensely to the grinding hardships victims of human rights violations undergo, including families of victims of extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, most of whom are widowed mothers and infant children, who have had to endure blistering suffering on account of the loss of a bread-winner.

“Many judgment debtors have also made plaintive representations to the Attorney-General of the Federation, for consent to recover judgment sums from public institutions, but the Attorney-General has, in cases monitored, not responded to those representations, or, effectively denies consent. Where an Attorney-General declines to give consent to the recovery of a judgment debt, he also promotes the culture of invincibility amongst law enforcement and security agencies, because he effectively shields them from being called to account for their actions. The Attorney-General takes side with abusers, and offers nothing but helplessness and despair to those who are victims of human rights violations and who have expended enormous time and resources in often protracted litigations to win justice.

“The economic impact of the COVID-19 perils will have a clearly disproportionate and far-reaching effect on thousands of victims of human rights abuses who have been denied justice and who have endured brutal suffering over many years now. These include children, those with special needs or require special care, some of who are destitute.

“The failure of the legal or justice system to provide them justice and the concomitant financial reliefs that may have helped them through excruciating periods such as this, exacerbates the trauma they face daily,and, alongside this, the effect of the grave injustice they endure.

The group therefore urges the government to To abrogate the Sheriff and Civil Process Act – or section 84 of the Act – immediately, so that courts can more effectively play the roles assigned to them under the Constitution, promote good governance and defend the rule of law. This will translate into better professionalism on the part of public institutions, particularly law enforcement and security agencies, foster better civic engagement with those agencies, as well as reduce impunity and promote accountability within them.

“To prioritize victims and families of victims of human rights abuses in the delivery of COVID-19 relief measures, particularly those related to extrajudicial executions and disappearances, and those suffering from physical incapacity due to the abuses they have suffered.

“Pending the abrogation of the SCPC, to require the Attorney General of the Federation, to give due consent to the payment of debts owned victims of human rights abuses, after substantiating the genuineness of each claim;

Access to Justice further calls on the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to reconsider the Bank’s longstanding history of support to perpetrators of human rights abuses, and to the role it has played over the years in shielding abusers from justice and accountability.

It urges the Governor to investigate also, the abuse of the banking system by public institutions through deceptive banking identity tactics, in order to undermine or resist judicial due process, and forestall the enforcement of judicial judgments; alongside this, to investigate the role of the Central Bank of Nigeria in sustaining these deceptive tactics.