Legal records and justice dispensation in Federal and State High Courts in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines the role of legal records in the dispensation of justice within the Federal and State High Courts in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Despite the crucial role of legal records in ensuring transparency, accountability, and efficiency in the dispensation of justice, the Federal and State High Courts in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, face significant challenges in managing, preserving, and accessing these records, which hinders timely and fair judicial outcomes. Through a survey of judges, legal practitioners, and academic lawyers, the study explores the usefulness of legal records in court proceedings, the effects of legal record unavailability, sources of legal records, and challenges affecting record management practices. Descriptive survey design was adopted. The population include 6 judges of Federal and 32 State High Court in Port Harcourt as well as 201 legal practitioners and academic lawyers. Census sampling technique was utilised to sample the 329 members of the population. The instrument for data collection was a self-designed questionnaire. The face and content validity of the instrument was obtained through superficial reading, and the reliability coefficient of 0.76 was obtained using Cronbach Alpha. The findings highlight the critical importance of legal records in supporting transparency, accountability, and fair adjudication of cases. However, challenges such as limited resources, inadequate technology, legal complexities, resistance to changes, and training deficiencies pose obstacles to effective record management. Addressing these challenges is essential to ensure the integrity and accessibility of legal records, thereby enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the judicial process.