Attorney-Generals to adopt national policy on prosecution today

The nation’s Body of Attorneys-General will meet on Thursday (today), July 28, to deliberate on the National Policy on Prosecution in the country.

This is contained in a statement by Salihu Isah, the Special Adviser to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.

Malami disclosed that the Body of Attorneys-General meeting was expected to consider and adopt the draft National Policy on Prosecution, Code of Conduct and Guidelines for Prosecutors.

According to him, the policy documents have been considered and approved for submission to the Body by the Solicitors General and Permanent Secretaries Forum at its meeting in October, 2015.

“The National Policy on Prosecution is intended for all officials and agencies involved in prosecution of crime management, evidence gathering and investigation.

“It identifies and articulates best practices, capacity improvement and incentives to enhance the productivity of prosecutors.

"It also addresses the needs and expectations of prosecutors in the Ministries of Justice, specialised prosecuting agencies and private legal practitioners occasionally involved in prosecution," he said.

Similarly, a two-day stakeholders meeting on the implementation of the outcome of the London Anti-Corruption Summit and the Open Government Partnership is to begin in Abuja on Thursday.

The meeting is expected to articulate the nation’s progress since President Muhammadu Buhari presented the country's statement on actions that will be implemented by the government of Nigeria on anti-corruption reform.

“Subsequent to this, Nigeria also submitted a letter of intent to join the Open Government Partnership (OGP) to the OGP Secretariat through the Office of thee Attorney General of the Federation.

"The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is an international multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government’s transparency, accountability and responsiveness to citizens.

‘’The OGP provides a policymaking platform that brings together government and civil society champions of reform to make governments more effective and credible through greater openness.”

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Malami explained that it was the Buhari administration’s position that commitment to the promotion of Open Government in Nigeria would resonate strongly with the message of "change" that the new government represented.