A BILL for an Act to repeal the Criminal Code Procedure Act of 2004 Thursday scaled second reading on the floor of the House of Representatives, as members supported stricter conditions for plea bargaining and frivolous adjournments of cases.

The lawmakers also backed the prohibition of arrest of family members or associates of criminals in lieu of suspects.

The sponsor of the bill, Ali Ahmad, who is also the Chairman, Committee on Justice, said the review of the administration of criminal justice system was long overdue.

“The bill is developed to address the major shortcomings of the Nigerian criminal justice system by aiming to achieve speedy dispensation of justice, protection of society from crime as well as protect the rights and interests of victims as well as defendants,” he said.

Ahmad stressed that if passed into law, the bill will become a model for states to adopt through their respective legislatures.

The implication, according to him, is that the option of jumping from one state to another as a result of lenient criminal justice systems would be eradicated.

“The bill will place stricter checks and balances on plea bargaining. Henceforth, plea bargaining must conform with police investigation and must be in public interest among other conditions,” he said.

To institutionalise speedy trial, the bill also seeks to limit adjournment of cases to five times and not more than 14 days in between.

The bill also states that application for stay of proceedings will no longer be heard until judgment, and so cannot operate to stall the continuation of trial.

According to the bill, arrest of family members and associates of crime suspects is prohibited in addition to the prohibition of inhuman treatment or torture of arrested persons.

Another major clause in the bill was the establishment of a central criminal record registry at the Force Headquarters and every state command to keep and transmit all records of arrests and convictions to the central registry.

It shall be the duty of each court’s chief registrar to transmit court’s decisions in criminal trials to the central registry within 30 days or face disciplinary measures by the Federal Judicial Service Commission.

While Uzo Azubike (PDP, Abia) noted that prescribed punishments in the existing law encourage commitment of crimes because of the leniency, another lawmaker, Simeon Arabo (PDP, Kaduna), noted that criminal record registry would prevent criminals seeking public offices by making available their records at the prompt of the data base.

The Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, referred the bill to the House Committee on Justice for further legislative input.


http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=116247:reps-move-against-plea-bargain-frivolous-adjournments-others&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

A step in the right direction, only if one Farida Waziri will be happy to hear this.

NIGERIAN CRIMINAL LAW/JUSTICE SYSTEM IS LONG OVERDUE FOR OVERHAUL! More rights should be encapsulated into those stuffs. Like suspects should have the right to walk away 30 minutes after being arrested, if the case officer isnt available, suspect should have the right to walk away after being arrested by 7 days without pressing charges! Things like that would stare tins up! This is 21st century and we need modern criminal codes!