Participants in a recent conference on Nigeria's legal system have called on the public and private sectors to fund and promote judicial reform, according to the final communique of the meeting, received on Tuesday by IRIN.

The conference, which brought together lawyers, civil society members, NGOs and education experts, concluded that the legal system was in crisis. They recommended the launch, by the government, of a national action plan for justice sector reform, the re-training and re-education of all legal professionals, and the revamping of law curricula.

The forum, organised by the non-governmental Human Rights Law Services, also found that "the Nigerian prison system violated prisoners' right not to be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment".