By Umar FaruK
Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria – June 11, 2026 (Series News Online)– The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, SAN, CON, has charged Nigerian lawyers to integrate artificial intelligence into legal practice while upholding judicial ethics and human oversight.
Mr. Fagbemi gave the charge during the opening of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Birnin Kebbi Branch Law Week 2026 held at Presidential Lodge, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State.
“It is a profound honour and a great pleasure to stand before you today in this historic city of Birnin Kebbi, a land deeply steeped in rich heritage, scholastic tradition, and cultural majesty, to witness the NBA Birnin Kebbi Branch Law Week 2026. I am indeed delighted to celebrate with the vibrant legal community of the ‘Equity Bar’ as we, once again, assemble to record indelible feats of resonating significance for our noble profession,” Mr. Fagbemi said.
He commended the NBA Birnin Kebbi Branch for sustaining intellectual discourse through its annual Law Week.
“Let me also, most sincerely, commend the leadership and members of the NBA Birnin Kebbi Branch for their vision, resilience, and unwavering commitment to sustaining active intellectual engagements. By organising this Law Week, you have consistently demonstrated that the local Bar is not just an administrative unit, but a dynamic engine room for legal engineering and societal advancement,” he stated.
Speaking on the theme, “Justice Beyond Algorithms: Navigating Law and Artificial Intelligence in Nigeria’s Evolving Justice System”, the Minister noted that AI had moved from speculative theory to a present reality in adjudication and legal practice.
“I am particularly captivated by the theme chosen for this year’s Law Week, which is ‘Justice Beyond Algorithms: Navigating Law and Artificial Intelligence in Nigeria’s Evolving Justice System’. This discourse comes at a critical juncture of innovation in our nation’s journey, as Artificial Intelligence is no longer a distant, futuristic concept, but a living reality that is actively reshaping how we live, work, conduct business, and adjudicate disputes,” he said.
Mr. Fagbemi cautioned that judicial discretion, conscience and moral reasoning must remain paramount despite technological advances.
“However, as we stand on the precipice of this inevitable digital revolution, we must always remember that technology must remain a subservient tool to serve the ends of justice, rather than replace them. Algorithms, no matter how sophisticated, precise, or predictive they become, can never substitute the human conscience, the depth of moral empathy, and the unwavering ethical clarity that ensure true justice, equity, and absolute fairness,” he warned.
He urged young counsel to acquire digital literacy to remain competent in modern litigation and practice.
“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the legal profession is evolving rapidly through technology, machine learning, virtual proceedings, and digital legal systems, which dictates that Nigerian lawyers must continue to adapt, innovate, and position themselves to meet the demands of modern practice ethically and professionally. To our young lawyers, especially, who possess vibrant energy and an innate digital curiosity, I encourage you to embrace digital literacy, continuous learning, and technological competence as indispensable survival skills,” Mr. Fagbemi said.
The Minister reaffirmed the Federal Ministry of Justice’s commitment to reforming the justice sector and deploying technology to enhance judicial efficiency.
“At the Federal Ministry of Justice, under my stewardship, we remain steadfastly committed to comprehensive, far-reaching reforms aimed at strengthening our nation’s justice architecture, improving access to justice, and leveraging technology responsibly. Government action alone is not enough, and the Nigerian Bar Association remains an indispensable partner as we actively refine federal policies to significantly improve judicial welfare, accelerate the administration of criminal justice, and deploy technology to drastically reduce backlogs in our courts,” he said.
Mr. Fagbemi cited the National Policy on Justice 2024–2028 and the National Minimum Standards for Restorative Justice as policy frameworks anchoring responsible innovation in adjudication.
“It is in fulfillment of this progressive mandate that our Ministry has recorded giant strides through aggressive policy interventions, starting with the systemic deployment of the National Policy on Justice 2024–2028, which provides a definitive roadmap for holistic reforms across the federation. Furthermore, recognising that automated efficiency must never replace the human element within our correctional and judicial systems, our administration has instituted the National Minimum Standards for Restorative Justice, promoting humane, community-centred alternatives in criminal adjudication that algorithms alone cannot resolve,” he stated.
He recommended ethical guidelines and continuous judicial education to regulate AI use in legal drafting and research.
“Distinguished guests, it is my considered view that any transition into the automated era must be guided by proactive, structured frameworks. We must therefore prioritise the development of standardised ethical guidelines for the integration of artificial intelligence in legal drafting and research, ensuring that human oversight remains the final arbiter of legal thought. Furthermore, I recommend that the leadership of the Bar and Bench collaborate to establish continuous digital literacy and technical competence programmes tailored specifically for legal practitioners, while concurrently advocating for the modernisation of court infrastructure to support virtual proceedings and secure electronic filing systems across all jurisdictions,” the Minister said.
Concluding the ceremony, Mr. Fagbemi declared the Law Week open and commended the organisers for advancing discourse on technology and justice.
“In conclusion, I highly commend the NBA Birnin Kebbi Branch for leading this pivotal conversation on artificial intelligence, and I congratulate the Chairman, the Law Week Planning Committee, and the entire membership on this achievement. It is now my singular honour and privilege, as the Special Guest of Honour, to declare the NBA Birnin Kebbi Branch Law Week 2026 open. I wish you all a highly rewarding, successful, and impactful Law Week,” he said.
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