Provisional Scalability Report Informal Justice Court in Ikoyi by Stichting Aardschap (October, 2020)

In this report we provisionally assess the scalability of the ongoing Informal justice Court project. The Informal Justice Court is a training program for awaiting trial inmates in Ikoyi Prison (Lagos, Nigeria), aimed at improving and accelerating inmates’ judiciary process through mock trials. In the court, the inmates act out their own cases, assisted by pro bono lawyers and law students. By taking on the different roles present in a formal court, such as judge, prosecutor, defendant and jury inmates gain legal knowledge, learn the skills to defend their case in court. Pro bono lawyers and law students, who are normally educated in mock courts on university campus, will prepare the cases together with the inmates and help find alternative, innovative legal outcomes that will be incorporated in the legal strategies for their real court case. Finally, the cases of the participating inmates will go to court where the inmate will have their formal trial, assisted by their pro bono lawyers. The Informal Justice Court project is aimed at setting in motion a positive change for the inmates but is also an action-research program to identify the challenges and possible solutions of the pre-trial detention in Lagos. The Informal Justice Court’s proceedings and outcomes are documented by artists and scholars.