Nigeria has one of the world’s highest rates of pretrial detention, with many cases dragging on for years without resolution. This workshop examined solutions that expand access to justice in Nigerian prisons. Participants shared innovative strategies that use legal education to clear administrative backlogs and empower unsentenced detainees.
Panelists contextualized the history of the Nigerian justice system, then introduced a Knowledge Management Fund-supported project 'Informal Justice Court' which took place in the Ikoyi Prison in Lagos. The project designed a training program for pre-trial detention inmates, aimed at improving inmates' judiciary process through mock trials practice and pro bono assistance. Watch the recording above to learn more about the innovative strategies toward legal education, and how in one prison -inmates use theater to navigate the judiciary process.
This session features panelists Melle Smets (Artist, Researcher and Founder of Aardschap Foundation), Joseph Haley (ACLS/Mellon Public Fellow at the World Justice Project), Joost van Onna (Researcher (PhD in Criminology) and Head of Research at Aardschap Foundation), Funmi Ayeni (Executive Secretary of the LPILP) and Odi Lagi (Program Director at NULAI Nigeria and a Board Member at GAJE).