From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in conjunction with the National Judicial Institute (NJI) has held an annual workshop for Nigerian judges to sensitise and familiarise them with the dynamics of emerging technologies and how they impact the judiciary system of the country.
The event entitled “Adjudicating in a Fast-Paced World of Technology and Digital Presence” was held Wednesday at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja.
Delivering the keynote address, Chief Justice of Nigeria Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad said the telecommunications sector had experienced a significant increase in the number of service providers which made the sector more competitive and prone to abuses. He noted that some of the risks to consumers had resulted in a number of disputes and challenges which invariably ended up in courts and therefore needed competent Judges who were well equipped and abreast with the current trends of the system to handle such cases.
‘The growing need for consumer protection in this sector is increasingly becoming complex for courts and the regulator in the converged setting of today, which includes e-commerce, e-payment and e-banking, all creating a major challenge in the sector.
‘This forum will further equip judicial officers with the legal and technical skills required for adjusting disputes in this special area of the law and in so doing, keep them abreast with global best practices,’ Muhammad said.
Also speaking, Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta explained that the forum was organised yearly to bring judges together and have discussions that would proffer solutions and address some legal challenges that had been introduced by the growing reliance on telecommunications.
‘The reason for this event is to facilitate an important engagement with the justices of the various courts on developments in telecommunications where we have seen so many transformations taking place, and associated with this remarkable transformation is litigation. Therefore, it is important for our judges to understand these transformations taking place with a view to bringing in from their wealth of experience in order to be able to properly and professionally adjudicate on issues that may arise from time to time in this sector.
‘The increased reliance on telecommunications, as well as the growth experienced in the sector has introduced some issues of legal connotation which will be discussed by various experts during the course of this workshop. One such is the ownership of online content and materials. It is envisaged that with the increase in the amount of online content, as well as the economic value attached to it, there will be a rise in the conflict at to ownership of online content and materials.
‘It is necessary that our Lordships are well prepared for the imminent increase in litigation in this area.
Danbatta added that the increasing number of transactions and businesses in the online space has also necessitated judges to be exposed to the peculiarities of adjudicating conflicts in this area of digital presence and online identity.
‘The aim of this forum is to further build the capacity of our distinguished judges with practical insights on those emerging issues in the field of telecommunications,’ the NCC boss revealed.
The administrator of the National Judicial Institute, Justice Rosaline Irorefe Bozimo said the workshop had over the years broadened the skills of participants and afforded them the platform to understand technical issues in the sector.
According to Bozimo, the workshop would focus on areas such as developing telecommunications laws, liability and attribution of ownership of online content and materials, social media platforms as channels for service of court processes and its challenges, online financial fraud (the platform owner or the service provider), data harmonisation and integrity (SIM-NIN linkage) and many more legal issues that pertains to the telecommunications industry.