The Administration of Justice in Nigeria in the Digital Age: A Critical Appraisal of Virtual Court Proceedings, Electronic Filing and Their Impact on the Right to Fair Hearing.

The migration of adjudication from the physical courtroom to the digital environment has become one of the defining features of contemporary judicial administration in Nigeria. What began as an emergency response to the disruption occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic has hardened into a durable programme of reform, culminating most recently in the mandatory electronic filing regime introduced at the Supreme Court in July 2026 and the electronic filing platform launched at the Federal High Court earlier in the same year. This article critically appraises that transformation through the lens of the constitutional guarantee of fair hearing under section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). It argues that virtual proceedings and electronic filing are not, in themselves, antithetical to fair hearing; rather, their compatibility depends on how faithfully the twin requirements of an open, public hearing and a genuinely equal opportunity to be heard are preserved in the digital setting. Drawing on the constitutional text, judicial authority, the reforms introduced by the Evidence (Amendment) Act 2023, recent empirical evidence on the attitudes of legal practitioners, and comparative practice in Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia and Kenya, the article identifies the fault lines that most threaten fair hearing, namely the digital divide, infrastructural deficiency, the unresolved treatment of certified true copies of public documents, and the persistent absence of an express constitutional footing for virtual sittings. It concludes with a set of targeted reforms designed to align Nigeria's digital justice architecture with the enduring demands of due process.

administration of justice, digital justice, electronic filing, fair hearing, virtual court proceedings, Nigeria

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