About Us
Core Functions And Activities Of The Ministry
In the last one year, the Ministry embarked on a number of initiatives with the aim of ensuring the smooth functioning of government through the effective discharge of its core functions that include
- Ensuring access to justice for all persons and the observance of the rule of law and due process by all MDAs;
- Prosecuting crimes against the State and defending civil cases on behalf of Government;
- Negotiating and vetting Contracts/Agreements on behalf of MDAs in order to protect national interest;
- Rendering timely quality legal advice and ancillary services to MDAs through the pool of Legal Advisers posted to them;
- Facilitating the early translation of Government policies into legislation through the Ministry’s legal drafting function;
- Ensuring close collaboration with stakeholders, government agencies, civil society and the international community in order to improve on justice delivery, and
- Advising government on its treaty obligations, in addition to other sundry services to the legal profession.
- Providing guidelines on international and local asset recovery regime,
- Tracking of all assets recovered on behalf of the federal government by various law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies.
- Assisting the Ministry of Finance in Developing a Whistle-Blowers’ Policy.
These functions are discharged through core departments in the Ministry, the Legal Units domiciled in the various MDAs who act as representatives of the Attorney General of the Federation within their respective organizations and the liaison offices located in the six geo-political zones of the country. The Ministry also supervises the activities of the following parastatals:
- Nigerian Law Reform Commission
- Legal Aid Council
- Council of Legal Education
- National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
- National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons
- Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
- Nigerian Copyrights Commission; and
- Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, Lagos.
Structure and Core Activities
To undertake and achieve its statutory mandate, the Federal Ministry of Justice is structured as follows:
(a) Professional Departments:
(i) Department of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF);
(ii) International and Comparative Law (ICL);
(iii) Civil Litigation and Public Law (CL&P);
(iv) Solicitors Department (SD);
(v) Legal Drafting (LD);
(vi) Citizens’ Right (CR); and
(vii) Law Reporting and Publications (LRP).
(b) Service Departments:
(i) Human Resources Management (HRM).
(ii) Planning, Research and Statistics (PRS).
(iii) Finance and Account (F & A).
(iv) General Services.
(v) Reform Coordination and Service Improvement (RCSI).
(vi) Procurement.
(c) Units:
(i) Information and Protocol
(ii) Internal Audit
(iii) Freedom of Information Act Implementation
(iv) Central Authorities
(v) Justice Sector Reform Committee.
(vii) Cybercrime
(viii) ICT
Vision Statement
To make Justice accessible to all, consistent with the ideals of democracy and the rule of law.
Mission Statement
To maintain the highest standard of professionalism, to the ideals of fairness and justice and the sustenance of a healthy relationship between all arms and tiers of government.
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