A NEW LEGAL ORDER: THE ROLE OF LAW AND INNOVATION IN NIGERIA’S TRANSFORMATION

BY: EZE-ATUONWU, ONYEDIKACHI DIVINE

ABSTRACT + This paper examines the growing intersection between law and technological innovation in Nigeria, arguing the need for the legal profession to thoroughly embrace technological innovations so as to achieve nation-wide development. While Nigeria’s judiciary has begun adopting tools such as, inter alia, virtual hearings and electronic filing systems, progress remains uneven due to bureaucratic delays, infrastructural deficits, corruption, and resistance to change. The article highlights noteworthy milestones, including the National Judicial Council’s 2020 COVID-19 directives, state-level practice directions, the Federal High Court Rules 2019, and the Evidence (Amendment) Act 2023, alongside Supreme Court decisions affirming the constitutionality of virtual proceedings. Notwithstanding these significant advancements, challenges such as inadequate funding, poor digital infrastructure, and ethical concerns about AI hinder effective integration. The paper concludes by proposing legal reforms, enhanced ICT investment, and capacity building as essential pathways for strengthening justice delivery and positioning Nigeria’s legal system for sustainable national development.

Keywords: National Development; Law; Technological Innovations.

1. INTRODUCTION

The renowned jurist, Lord Denning opined: “If we never do anything which has not been done before, nothing will change; the entire world will move on whilst the law remains the same and that will be bad for both the world and the law.”  This is so true, as we are currently in a technology-led landscape with constantly evolving market which needs lawyers to offer legal services, as well the bench for quick and timely dispensation of justice. Therefore, there would be an obvious gap in communication, implementation and overall service if the legal profession in Nigeria do not evolve, leading to further isolation from the evolving demands of the society (CLP Legal, no date).

It is therefore the aim of this work to advocate for the legal profession to fully embrace these technological advancements, for the progress of the nation. To this effect, this essay would be divided into five sections. The first section is the introductory work. The second section, will give an overview of the state of technological innovations in the legal profession.  The third section would give an overview of technological innovations. The fourth section would analyse how technological innovations can be integrated so as to foster national development. The last section would be the conclusion.

• TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS

In the context of this work, technology refers primarily to Information and Communication Technology (ICT), a broad term that encompasses digital tools and systems used to store, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data (Ayotebi, 2025). ICT has improved the legal profession through the use of electronic filing systems, online legal databases, video conferencing tools, virtual hearing platforms, digital case management systems, and other computer-assisted legal tools (UNESCO, no date).

Examples of such innovations that are in used in Nigeria include: Microsoft 365, Zoom, Google meet, computer assisted research applications like Law Pavilion, Nigerian Weekly Law Reports (which is both online and hardware), Next Council, Academia, etc. and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications like ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.  

• TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS IN THE NIGERIAN LEGAL INDUSTRY: OVERVIEW AND CHALLENGES

It is safe to say that the legal profession in Nigeria with specific reference to the judiciary has to a degree, embraced digital technology in it machinery and administration of justice. The conservative approach and conventional methodology still upheld by the judiciary has proved to be unfavourable to the judicial system in Nigeria coupled with the voluminous number of cases that needed to be decided on and other socio-economic challenges affecting the dispensation of justice (Olugasa and Davies, 2025).

It is on account of this that the immediate past Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami and the National Judicial Council as part of it COVID-19 Policy Report released a directive in 2020 that courts should resort to digital virtual court proceedings. Flowing from this directive some states such as Lagos, Ogun and Rivers resorted to remote court proceedings (NJC, 2020). For instance, Lagos State signed the Lagos State Judiciary Remote Hearing of Cases Practice Direction that came into effect on the 4th of May, 2020 (Mohamad and Sule, 2022). On the 31st of May 2022, the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (Filling of Applications/Motions in Trade Union Matters and Marking of Exhibits) Practice Direction (No. 1) 2022 was enacted and came into effect on the 13th of June, 2022 (Mondaq, 2022).  Furthermore, Bornu State was the first to resort to digital virtual court proceedings where the judgment was delivered via online sitting in criminal matters (Aidonojie et al, 2023). The Federal High Court before now, set the ball rolling by its’ 2019 Rules which provided for electronic filling of court processes (FHC, 2019).

This constitutional backing for this revolution especially as it relates to virtual court proceedings. Section 36(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) provides that the proceedings of a court or any tribunal shall be held in public. Furthermore, Section 36(4)(a) provides that a person charged before the court or tribunal shall be heard in public. There has been several arguments that the conduct of criminal proceedings via online means violates the aforementioned provision because it is not been held in public. However, this controversy was settled by the Supreme Court in ‘Attorney General of Lagos State v Attorney General of the Federation & Anor’ (2020) where it stated expressly that “Virtual sittings as of today are not unconstitutional.”This was further affirmed in Attorney General of Ekiti State v Attorney General of The Federation (2020) and Lagos State v Ekiti State Government (2020)respectively.

The Evidence (Amendment) Act 2023 which amends the Evidence Act 2011 introduces key innovations to bring the Principal Act in conformity with global realities and technological advancements in evidence taking and swift dispensation of justice (Godwin and Michael, 2023).

Notwithstanding the efforts made by the government and the courts to integrate technology into the judicial system, there remain some stumbling blocks standing in the way of the judiciary from experiencing rapid integration. First, Nigeria’s judicial system suffers from bureaucratic bottlenecks and delays which hinder its efficient operation; which are caused by antiquated laws, paper-based administrative procedures and an unwieldy backlog of cases (Ayuba, 2023). The result of this is a legal system rife with delays and an inability to administer justice effectively and promptly to its citizens.

Secondly, it is also well established that court employees in Nigeria seriously undermine the integrity of the legal system by indulging in bribery and corruption, evidenced when they file and assign cases (Ayuba, 2023, p. 7). Even the bench is not untouched by this epidemic. With a corrupt judicial system, innovation will only grow at a snail pace.

Third, is the pervasive reluctance to embrace and incorporate AI into its structure and operations, due to its strict adherence to its conservative approach to legal practice.

Fourth, which is very crucial, is lack of funding. The integration of these technological innovations needs funds, running into hundreds of millions, and even billions, to acquire and install these technologies. This, unfortunately, is beyond the control of the judicial arm. This has resulted in the lack of basic infrastructure like constant power and poor internet services;

Ethical concerns and fears such as bias, lack of transparency and fairness, privacy and data protection are some impediments and fears towards the integration of tech-based innovations such as AI into the judicial system. Although the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation and the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended), addresses some of these concerns, there would be need for more specific legislation in the area.

• THE INTERSECTION OF LAW AND INNOVATION FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Law and innovation can be brought together in holy matrimony for Nigeria’s transformation through:

1. The institutionalisation of a robust legal framework for application of technology and AI especially in the Court system. This will enhance the integration of technology in the courts and bring other states that are yet to integrate technology into their court rules to do so. It will also have a resultant effect on the practice and case management strategies of lawyers and law firms as they will be compelled to make use of same in their operations. If this is enforced at the bench, the bar would have no choice but embrace it as well.
2. ICT facilities should be made available to the Courts, which will aid the speedy administration of justice.
3. For technology to truly enhance access to justice, it is necessary that those working within the justice system, court staff, lawyers, and paralegal personnel are equipped with the technical know-how to operate the tools and systems made available to them.

• CONCLUSION

The goal of marrying law and innovation side by side in holy matrimony is to ensure that justice is upheld at all cost, for all ages. This aligns with the eternal words of Lord Hewart,  to the effect that “It is not merely of some importance but is of fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done” (Rex v. Sussex Justices, 1924).

BIBLOGRAPHY/REFERENCES

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