Design the Court Process Reforms That Could Clear Nigeria's Case Backlog

Nigeria's court backlog is one of the country's most damaging governance failures. Defendants — many of whom are on remand — wait years for trials. Businesses wait years for commercial dispute resolution. The delays entrench injustice and create a culture of impunity for those who can afford to stall proceedings indefinitely. Piecemeal reforms have made limited headway because they address symptoms rather than the structural causes. Your challenge is to design a court process reform proposal — potentially including technology, new procedures, or alternative dispute resolution pathways — for one category of Nigerian court cases (criminal, civil, family, or commercial) that would reduce average case duration by at least 50% without requiring new court buildings or additional judges. Submit a reform design document (max 12 pages) including: root cause analysis of delay for your chosen case category, the specific interventions proposed, how they work within the existing constitutional framework, an evidence base from comparable jurisdictions, implementation sequencing, and a monitoring and evaluation plan. Judging criteria: 40% quality of root cause analysis and intervention logic, 30% feasibility within existing constitutional framework, 20% evidence base from comparable reforms, 10% implementation plan.