The Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACC) has finished drafting the document on the establishment of special courts that will try cases of corruption and other crimes.
According to Punch Newspaper, the committee, led by Professor Itse Sagay, submitted the draft document to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami for further action and submission to the National Assembly.
Confirming the report during an interview, Sagay said, “We have completed our work and we have submitted the draft to the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation.”
Executive Secretary to the PACC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, also confirmed to Punch that the office of the AGF had received the document.
“We have submitted the recommendation to the Attorney General of the Federation and the Ministry of Justice. They said they are taking a look at it. They need a little time to look at it and know what policy position to take.”
Meanwhile, in May, Sagay had hinted that the document would propose special courts for the prosecution of offences such as corruption, cybercrimes and kidnapping.
According to Sagay, when the draft goes through due process and the courts are established, cases will be dealt with speedily.
“Also, we have completed a draft on special crimes’ court. It is very comprehensive. These courts, when finally the draft goes through all the legal processes, will have jurisdiction over economic and financial crimes, corruption cases, narcotic drug cases, money laundering cases and cybercrime cases. That is the proposal.”
“There will be special courts and they will have advantage of speed in dealing with cases. So all together, as a committee, our aim, target and objective is to create institutions in which all corruption cases will see effective investigation, effective prosecution, speedy adjudication and effective sanctions and we hope that at the end of our work, long after we have left the scene, results of what we have done will be permanent and will be positive in the whole administration of criminal justice system.”
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