Nigeria's criminal justice system is one in which a judge (or panel of judges) is both the trier of fact and dispenser of punishment. Trials conducted in this manner are referred to as bench trials.

On the other hand, in some jurisdictions, a jury is the trier of fact. The jury comprises between 9-12 people who are citizens of a particular country. The jury, after some deliberation, returns a verdict to the court.

In the United States and other countries, jury trials are largely reserved for criminal proceedings.

Ha, if na dah one, d convict go hear am

Jury system won't work in Nigeria. The accused would just have to bribe many people rather than the present sytem of bribing the judge only.
Our understanding of basic principles of the rule of law is also deficient, where would the jurors come from?

It will be worse; in Nigeria if tried, it will rubbish d system...

Mogidi:
Jury systemwon't work in Nigeria. The accused would just have to bribe many people rather than the present sytem of bribing the judge only.
Our understanding of basic principles of the rule of law is also deficient, where would the jurors come from?

There will be requirements that must be met to be a juror, jurors once selected will be put under some kind of surveillance to prevent bribery or threats.

fr3do:


There will be requirements that must be met to be a juror, jurors once selected will be put under some kind of surveillance to prevent bribery or threats.

Easier said than done.

A no no.

Ethnicity will kill it.

Some accused are always hardworking people, while the rest of Nigerians are envious and lazy.

Some will forget they are jurors and even question why Emeka has been accused, when no accusation has been made against Musa.

Lofty ideals are not meant for tribalist societies.

Would be nice. But Na who you want put for there as juror? Hungry men Wey 50 naira go change their mentality.?

I would prefer trial by combat Tywin Lanister style.

Mogidi:
Jury system won't work in Nigeria. The accused would just have to bribe many people rather than the present system of bribing the judge only.
Our understanding of basic principles of the rule of law is also deficient, where would the jurors come from?

The juror pool could be drawn from students of higher institutions, professionals, entrepreneurs, workers etc.
However, civil servants, military personnel, law enforcement personnel, and public office holders should be barred from jury duty. This could prevent any conflict of interest.

As another poster said earlier, the jurors could be sequestered or under surveillance through out the court proceedings. And the identity of the jurors should be kept secret until the end of the trial.

san316:
Would be nice. But Na who you want put for there as juror? Hungry men Wey 50 naira go change their mentality.?

A daily stipend of, say N1,500, should take care of the jurors. The stipend will take care of their transport fare too.

CFCfan:

The juror pool could be drawn from students of higher institutions, professionals, entrepreneurs, workers etc.
However, civil servants, military personnel, law enforcement personnel, and public office holders should be barred from jury duty. This could prevent any conflict of interest.

As another poster said earlier, the jurors could be sequestered or under surveillance through out the court proceedings. And the identity of the jurors should be kept secret until the end of the trial.

Don't you think the juror pool would be too limited and constrained if civil servants, military personnel, law enforcement personnel were exempted?
This is not what happens in Europe or America right?

(In Chief Zebrudaya's voice) Fa fa fa.. Fowl!

Mogidi:


Don't you think the juror pool would be too limited and constrained if civil servants, military personnel, law enforcement personnel were exempted?
This is not what happens in Europe or America right?

Civil servants could be too loyal to their 'oga' or 'madam' if any of them happened to be the defendant.
Here in the US (California), law enforcement personnel are exempt from serving on juries. Maybe you're right: members of the armed forces should do jury duty.

if they ar good pple and are being paid well it will work perfectly. At leaSt inside one to 12 not. All go d collect bribe

Tribalism will kill it!

Volksfuhrer:
Tribalism will kill it!

Abi. A solution will be to ensure that the jury is made up of, at least, 3 ethnic nationalities.

Nigerians will bribe the living daylight out of the jury and the members of the jury will be ever willing to accept it. Whoever paya more gets their vote. This country is just too corrupt for jury duty. Don't be surprised if you see peoples siblings being made part of the jury and you will wonder if Satan is a Nigerian.

Afam4eva:
Nigerians will bribe the leaving daylight out of the jury and the members of the jury will be ever willing to accept it. Whoever paya more gets their vote. This country is just too corrupt for jury duty. Don't be surprised if you see peoples siblings being made part of the jury and you will wonder if Satan is a Nigerian.

cc: lalasticlala

I've never really been a fan of the jury system even in the US because I think members of the jury are susceptible to manipulation from a very good defence team. There's also the emotional angle. Most of these people throw objectivity put of the window in cases such as a man raping a 5year old. The man will most likely lose the case as people like that are pre-judged and not given a fair hearing in the truest sense.

Mogidi:
Jury system won't work in Nigeria. The accused would just have to bribe many people rather than the present sytem of bribing the judge only.
Our understanding of basic principles of the rule of law is also deficient, where would the jurors come from?

For once, I agree with you. You are absolutely spot on.

Afam4eva:
I've never really been a fan of the jury system even in the US because I think members of the jury are susceptible to manipulation from a very good defence team. There's also the emotional angle. Most of these people throw objectivity put of the window in cases such as a man raping a 5year old. The man will most likely lose the case as people like that are pre-judged and not given a fair hearing in the truest sense.

Yes. That's a major drawback of the system. A jury can be swayed more by histrionics of either the defense team or the prosecutor, tahn by hard facts of the case and the law. That's an unfortunate by-product of America's adversarial legal system.

seunmsg:


For once, I agree with you. You are absolutely spot on.

The bribe issue sticks out as a sore thumb. However, the jury are usually given a set of instructions by the judge on how to apply the law to the facts. In California, the jury instructions are codified into a book called "CALJIC".

CFCfan:

The bribe issue sticks out as a sore thumb. However, the jury are usually given a set of instructions by the judge on how to apply the law to the facts. In California, the jury instructions are codified into a book called "CALJIC".

This probably works in California but not in Nigeria because I can't remember when Nigerians started following in instruction. If you want Nigerians to follow instructions just place some raw cash in their hands and invent an instruction.

I do not believe the jury system can work in nigeria reason being that the prosecution is expected to prove every material allegation of fact (beyond reasonable doubt) to a court that already sees the accused person as innocent (before his guilt is proved). No other person or body of persons can help the prosecution with this burden.
In other words, the job is not on the jury to resolve questions of fact, the onus is on the prosecution to convince the court that the accused is infact guilty.

Skeptical.

purplesummer:
I do not believe the jury system can work in nigeria reason being that the prosecution is expected to prove every material allegation of fact (beyond reasonable doubt) to a court that already sees the accused person as innocent (before his guilt is proved). No other person or body of persons can help the prosecution with this burden.
In other words, the job is not on the jury to resolve questions of fact, the onus is on the prosecution to convince the court that the accused is infact guilty.

Yes, the prosecution has to prove their case beyond all reasonable doubt; but the jury determines whether the prosecution or defense team presented a more convincing argument.

This reminds me of when Homer Simpson served as a juror in the case against the Mayor's nephew . The jurors may get emotional and jail an innocent person like we saw in that episode where all the jurors ruled him guilty only Homer ruled otherwise( and he was right)

Completed my jury duty two days ago

happy new month

Mogidi:
Jury system won't work in Nigeria. The accused would just have to bribe many people rather than the present sytem of bribing the judge only.
Our understanding of basic principles of the rule of law is also deficient, where would the jurors come from?

There's no way jurors can be bribed if strictly under surveillance for a few days of trial. If encouraged, all the politheievs in Nigeria would be cooling off in jail. Jurors have set rules they must abide by, and where they should come from shouldn't be an issue.

CFCfan:

Yes. That's a major drawback of the system. A jury can be swayed more by histrionics of either the defense team or the prosecutor, tahn by hard facts of the case and the law. That's an unfortunate by-product of America's adversarial legal system.

Also, don't the Judge have the final say in the the trial? I mean, judges overrule jurors in a case. For instance, if a judge believes a juror may have been compromised OR he/she sees strong evidence indicating an trial error OR simply, he/she believes beyond reasonable doubt that a defendant isn't guilty due to many reason, he/she can overturn a guilty verdict. I believe though that some cases like white collar, fraud, armed robbery, murder, etc. should be strictly jury trial and some like rape charges should be deferred to judges.