Micheal Uche Ukponu
Abstract
Nigeria has ratified (and domesticated) many international conventions and agreements, some of which are directed at protecting the environment. In addition, some national environmental laws and regulations have been enacted pursuant to Nigeria’s international treaty commitments. However, the dispensation of environmental justice and the implementation of these soft and hard environmental legal frameworks in Nigeria have suffered inefficiencies, such as the slow adjudication of environmental cases regular courts with heavy caseloads spanning across different causes of action. This causes delays in accessing environmental justice to the detriment of affected persons. This paper proposes the establishment of a specialised National Environment and Planning Tribunal (NEPT) to ensure the speedy dispensation of environmental justice in Nigeria, citing successes recorded specialised environmental courts and tribunals in Australia and India.
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