The Lagos State, Judiciary Wednesday launched a new sentencing guideline for the courts in the state.

The sentencing guideline for magistrates and high court judges was signed by the Chief Judge as part of justice sector reform in the state.

The new guideline had been enacted to ensure uniformity in sentence and fines imposed for certain offences by magistrates in particular and to forestall prison congestion.

Addressing the inaugural meeting of Justice Sector Reform Committee Wednesday, Justice Opeyemi Oke pointed out that the vision of the Lagos State Judiciary under the present administration was to make speedy dispensation of justice a hallmark of the judiciary and to improve on its reputation as a pacesetter.

The CJ noted that this could only be achieved through inter agency collaboration and cooperation of stakeholders.

She disclosed that a committee has also been set up to proffer practice direction for the use of the Administration of Criminal Law of Lagos State for the purpose of making the law more explicit for judges, magistrates and prosecutors.

She said the committee, besides interventions in the pipeline, would evaluate initiatives such as adopting Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms in criminal trials, increased use of plea bargain to drastically reduce the number of inmates awaiting trial, front loading of evidence and restorative justice.

Oke emphasised the importance of an effective criminal justice system to the smooth running of the society saying that it was fundamental to the maintenance of law and order.

She said “any society with a sound criminal justice system enjoys rapid economic growth.

“Going forward, the Lagos State government is working towards building a citizen-centric criminal justice system for the purpose of ensuring efficient and effective justice delivery,” she said.

Adeniji Kazeem, the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, explained that the essence of the inter-agency meeting was to ensure that they discuss periodically the challenges facing the criminal justice system.

http://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/03/lagos-judiciary-releases-new-sentencing.html