Examination of the Role of Civil Society Organisations in Post-Legislative Scrutiny
Thesis
Post-legislative scrutiny (PLS) is essential for ensuring the effective implementation of laws and their beneficial impact on citizens. However, the current PLS approach in the form of legislative oversight in Nigeria, predominantly involves the legislature, Law Reform Commission, and government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), adopting a "top-down" approach with limited citizens engagement and no effective channels for citizens to connect with Parliament. This underscores a disconnect between citizens and lawmakers, resulting in an inadequate understanding of real-world impacts of legislation, thereby questioning the effectiveness and inclusiveness of the current PLS approach. This research explores the potential of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as pivotal independent actors in PLS, with capacity to bridge the existing gaps in the current approach. It also underscores the absence of enabling legal and institutional environment for CSO participation in PLS. The primary objectives of this research are to examine the need and significance of CSO involvement in PLS, identify strategies and tools for CSO engagement, and identify the challenges and foster solutions for CSO engagement in PLS. The justification for this research lies in its potential to shift the current PLS approach from a top-down to a more to a more inclusive, bottom-up approach, ensuring laws are effective and aligned with societal needs. The methodology employed for this research was doctrinal, also referred to as desk or library research. This method provides a diverse and multidimensional perspective, drawing from legal principles, statutes, and existing scholarly works. Both primary and secondary sources, including statutes, case law, textbooks, and journals, were explored to achieve the research objectives. The findings of this research underscore the need for the involvement of CSOs as pivotal actors capable of enhancing the inclusiveness and effectiveness of PLS. As citizen representatives and intermediaries, CSOs can bridge the current gap between people and lawmakers, reshaping the current approach of PLS into a more "bottom-up" and inclusive approach. Additionally, the research also reveals a lack of formal collaboration between CSOs and the legislature during PLS, with no effective strategies and tools in place to foster such collaboration. Lastly, it reveals the underlying challenges hindering CSO engagement in PLS, which include; inadequate regulatory and institutional frameworks, lack of legislative support, insufficient funding and resources, inadequate training and awareness. Based on these findings, the research recommends leveraging CSOs' strategic position and their direct engagement with law beneficiaries to access independent, beneficiary-driven and valuable feedback to enhance PLS inclusiveness, transparency, and effectiveness, ensuring laws better serve societal needs. The legislature should also establish formal mechanisms for CSO engagement by introducing or amending relevant legislation, rules, and standing orders. Reviewing existing committee structures and reactivating the civil society liaison office in the National Assembly to focus on PLS activities. Lastly, Educating both CSOs and legislators on their collaborative potential in PLS and ensuring adequate resources and capacity building are also essential. In Conclusion, Adopting these recommendations will optimize PLS benefits, ensuring laws are effective and aligned with societal needs, thus fostering transparency and overall inclusiveness of the democratic process.