By Sunny A. David, Awka
The Anambra State Ministry of Justice has commenced a review of about 180 criminal cases arising from land disputes across the state, as part of efforts to prevent the criminalisation of matters that should ordinarily be resolved through civil proceedings.
The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Tobechukwu Nweke, SAN, disclosed this while speaking on the ongoing review exercise.Nweke said the initiative followed an earlier call by his office inviting individuals who believed that their land-related disputes had been wrongly treated as criminal cases to submit their complaints for review.According to him, the ministry is examining the affected case files to determine whether the matters contain genuine criminal elements or are essentially civil disputes.
He explained that where the review establishes that a case is purely civil in nature, the criminal proceedings would be discontinued, while the parties would be directed to seek appropriate remedies through the civil courts.However, he noted that cases in which criminal elements are established would be returned for prosecution in accordance with the law.The Attorney-General said the exercise was aimed at ensuring that innocent citizens were not subjected to unnecessary or unjustified criminal prosecution over land disputes.
He said the initiative reflected the state government’s commitment to addressing what it described as the undue criminalisation of civil land disputes and ensuring that citizens have access to justice.
Nweke further disclosed that the Ministry of Justice was still receiving complaints from members of the public who believed their land disputes had been wrongly converted into criminal matters.He therefore urged affected individuals to submit their complaints and relevant case details to the ministry for consideration.The Attorney-General assured those whose cases are currently under review that they would be informed of the outcome of the process.
