Criminal Justice System And The Rule Of Law

The Service Chiefs, at a recent outing before the House of Representatives, as part of sectoral debate for MDAs, recounted activities aimed at combating the surging insecurity challenges in the country.

In his submission, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, suggested that the judiciary maybe inadvertently undermining efforts to fight insurgency in the country. He said that the release of Boko Haram suspects after being arrested by the military was not helping the determination of the security forces to rein in the criminal elements.

“I have been in the North-east; there were a lot of Boko Haram elements that have been captured. We have kept them for five/six years. We, the armed forces, can arrest but cannot prosecute.

“Another aspect of the judiciary is that you use all your efforts to make an arrest, you hand them over, and before you enter your vehicle, the man has been released on bail.

“Now you have risked yourself in doing that; by the time he is released, he goes to tell the people the person that arrested him. Now your family members or you are at risk,” the Defence Chief lamented.

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He said it was getting to a state where the security forces would not want to make any effort.

“We must have a special court to look into it. That is why we arrest and destroy them because the longer we keep them, it becomes a problem,” said the CDS. Even worse, Gen Musa said, the military often come under pressure to release them.

He said that at the moment, about 140,000 terrorists have surrendered and are awaiting disarmament, assuring that there is no single territory currently being occupied by Boko Haram insurgents.

This, in our opinion, is one example of some of  the lapses in the Nigerian criminal justice system. Experts are of the view that it has become archaic, dysfunctional and inadequate for the attainment of basic goals of criminal justice delivery.

In operation in the country today is a tripartite system of criminal law and justice: the Criminal Code (based on English Common Law and legal practice); the Penal Code (based on Maliki Law and Muslim system of law and justice); and Customary Law (based on the customs and traditions of the people).

Some sections of these  laws have provisions that are considered outdated and in most cases anachronistic so that lawyers cash in on the loopholes to engage in dilatory tactics, hence, rendering it difficult to bring criminal cases to brisk close.

Evidently, and research has shown this, many people arrested and accused of crimes in Nigeria are not only presumed guilty, they are also imprisoned before their cases are even investigated. 

In addition to this, the country’s court system has historically been beset with delays and backlogs due, in part, to an undefined timeline in the constitution within which cases ought to be tried. 

All of these have created a situation in which Nigeria has the highest percentage of prisoners awaiting trial in Africa. According to World Prison Brief, a nongovernmental organization, only about 33 per cent of South African prisoners are awaiting trial while in Ghana it’s only around 13 percent ,

At the opening of Special Policy Summit on Criminal Justice Reforms and Presentation of Model State Correctional Service law, the Ebonyi state governor, Francis Nwifuru,  pointed that a smooth and effective system of criminal justice administration is fundamental to the maintenance of law and order in any given society.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, in his remarks, said it is not in doubt that an effective and efficient justice system is a panacea for peace, stability and economic growth and development.

In our considered opinion, Criminal Justice System (CJS) is an essential part of any civilized nation desirous of ensuring   justice, fairness, the practice of the rule of law and the institutionalization of a democratic system.

The CJS is a system comprising

of many bodies, groups, institutions or agencies that have been charged with the responsibilities of ensuring social agreement and mass compliance with the law, and deciding whether or not an individual is guilty of violating the laws of the society, and the appropriate punishment to be meted to such an individual.

In addition to such responsibility, the CJS is also responsible for the care and rehabilitation of individuals found guilty of breaking the laws and to whom prescribed punishment is meted out.

Anecdotal evidences and a cursory look around, however, suggests that something is wrong somewhere particularly considering the wave of crime in Nigeria.

Instances of kidnaps for ransom, incessant killings and armed robbery attacks, are daily in the news.

More worrisome is the alarming cases of recidivism, the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend, which then calls to question, the usefulness of the rehabilitation and reformatory homes. The question then is, what characteristics of the CJS factors into the effectiveness or otherwise of this system?

In our view, the lack of credibility on the part of  the Nigeria CJS, made up, essentially, of the police, lawyers, judges, and the prisons,  in the administration of justice and the laws, has been responsible for an avalanche of social injustice, lack of discipline and lawlessness in Nigeria and  among Nigerians.

They also constitute the supposed custodians of the laws and are, therefore, in our opinion responsible for the ineffectiveness of the system in criminal behaviour control.

This newspaper is persuaded to argue that once the image of the Nigeria CJS is rebuilt, through positive behavioral change, and its actors live up to expectation as credible instruments in ensuring compliance with the law, then it becomes easy to control criminal behaviour among Nigerians.

We  need to ensure that standards of performance are raised to a level where the public has total confidence in the judiciary as an institution and in judges as interpreters and dispensers of justice.

A research carried out in reviewing judiciary system identified four broad areas in addressing this task. These are  

Improving Access to Justice; Improving the Quality of Justice; Raising the Level of Public Confidence in the Judicial Process; and Improving the efficiency and effectiveness in responding to public complaints about the judicial process.

This newspaper holds the view that it’s only when this is addressed can we as a nation have an egalitarian society where rule of law reigns.