Hon Justice Opeyemi Oke, Lagos Chief Judge
The Lagos State Judiciary has launched the Small Claims Court practice direction and handbook translations in five local languages, which were Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Egun and pidgin English.
The Chief Judge, Justice Opeyemi Oke described the development as the first in the country and a great feat to have an enabling law translated into different indigenous languages.
Justice Oke emphasised that the effort would further improve the performance recorded so far in terms of a number of cases filed and the duration between filing and delivery of judgement since litigants would more likely understand the process and become more confident to represent themselves.
She remarked that the court has fulfilled its objective of providing easy access to an informal, inexpensive and speedy resolution of simple debt recovery disputes in the magistrates’ courts for claims not exceeding five million naira as provided for under Article 1 of the Practice Direction.
On her part, the Chairman of the Committee on Small Claims Court, Justice Yetunde Adesanya said with the new development, more litigants are expected to bring their commercial cases to the court, which will inevitably decongest the dockets of high court judges.
The Small Claims Court which was established in April 2018 has delivered 530 judgements out of 850 cases filed by litigants in seven magisterial districts of the State and had received Presidential and World Bank awards on the practice of the Ease of Doing Business owing to the success of the court.
