Plea bargaining is now a global feature in the administration of criminal justice the world over. However, in nigeria, the public sector pays lipservice to the collective. Download administration of criminal justice law of lagos. In addition to highlighting the jurisprudential basis for use of the new measures in criminal justice, we shall also highlight and consider suitable approaches for unlocking the potential of these concepts and practices in the criminal justice system. Defendants who take a plea bargain eliminate the uncertainty that a trial may bring.
Sentencing guidelines, judicial discretion and plea bargaining jennifer f. See for instance, 1801 of the criminal procedure act and 76 of the criminal justice law of lagos state, 2007. Nigeria constitution does not in any way make the provision for plea bargain. A moral critique sule peter echewija department of philosophy, federal university lafia, nigeria abstract the idea of justice normatively reflects justitia in the roman worldview. What is collective bargaining joshoyin 2007 define collective bargaining as a machinery for discussion and negotiation whether formal or informal, between employers and workers, representatives, aimed at reaching mutual agreement or understanding on the employers and the worker, according to glueck 1982 collective. Oct 11, 2010 plea bargaining and the criminal justice system in nigeria on october 8, 2010, the former chief executive officer of oceanic bank international nigeria plc, mrs. Oct 06, 2008 this work will analyze the incidence the incidence of corruption in nigeria, the havoc it has caused on the society and the attempts made by government at curbing it.
Plea bargaining has long been a staple of common law criminal justice systems. Dirk olin, plea bargain, the new york times magazine, september 29, 2002. The emergence of plea bargaining in the nigeria legal system. The global practice of plea bargaining and the nigerian legal plea bargaining is now a global feature in the administration of criminal justice the legal system, nigeria, nigerian legal system, efcc, administration of criminal justice law of lagos state 2007, prosecution. Recommendations that will assist all stakeholders in the application of plea bargaining are also expressed in this study. Implementation guidelines for plea bargain made pursua nt to s 270 acja provided in article 4 f that the prosecution shall balance the risks posed by the crime, the interest of the public and. Go down the left side of the chart to locate your base number.
In other words, plea bargaining means the accuseds plea of guilty has been bargained for, and some consideration has been received for it. In defense of plea bargaining is the problem, by jiti ogunye. Nigeria in nigeria, plea bargaining has been employed in a number of highprofile corruption cases, such as those against former governors diepreye alamieyeseigha and lucky igbinedion. The latest versions of adobe reader do not support viewing pdf files within firefox on mac os and if you are using a modern intel mac, there is no official plugin for viewing pdf files within the browser window. Fashoyin noted ironically, the machinery has performed relatively poorly the emphasis here is that the history of collective bargaining is. Under the plea bargaining provisions of broad application in nigeria, enacted in 2015, the prosecution may offer or accept a plea agreement from a defendant, provided that certain conditions are.
It is the wish of our creator that we should live in abundance and not in abject poverty. A plea bargain may include other conditions that the defendant must satisfy in order to be eligible for a reduced charge or sentence. The trend is of such a tsunamic force that nations whose legal systems hitherto does not recognize. The paper also attempts a critique of the present collective bargaining system alongwith offering some policy recommendations. In plea bargaining, a defendant is faced with a charge at arraignment. The failure of nigerias economic and financial crimes. Pdf plea bargaining and the administration of criminal justice in. An appraisal of the application of plea bargaining. Helpdesk answers 2017 the helpdesk is a knowledge base that offers the transparency international network and selected stakeholders ondemand research on corruption within a guaranteed timeframe.
Plea bargaining can conclude a criminal case without a trial. The law that governs arbitration in nigeria is the arbitration and conciliation act 1988, which is applicable over the federation except for lagos state that has its own law, the lagos state arbitration law, 2009 lsal. Those who are kicking against it claim that it is unknown to our legal system. Among the positive effects of this ruling is the declogging of court dockets and the cooperation of smalltime users or couriers to pin down drug. Plea bargaining and the administration of criminal justice in. On the practice perspectives of plea bargaining in nigeria. Plea bargaining also has advantages but only when it is applied on appropriate criminal cases. The central focus here is a critique of corruption prosecution through plea bargain based on moral and utilitist principles. The paper discusses collective bargaining practices in the public and private sectors of nigeria. Guilty plea and plea agreement atr department of justice. The insurgence of plea bargaining in our criminal justice system will be considered and its effect on the anticorruption crusade. This project titledan appraisal of the application of plea bargaining procedure in nigerian criminal justice system is aimed at ascertaining the applicability of the concept of plea bargain in the penal system being that it is a novel phenomenon in the general criminal justice system despite the fact it is holding sway in some developed criminal justice jurisdictions like the united. Nigerian constitution and plea bargaining u12mmude news.
This development creates a shift from the aim of criminal law being punishment in economic and. In an interview that was published in the vanguard newspaper of november 18, 2012, eso, jsc said of plea bargain in nigeria thus. Practice and procedure of plea bargain under acj act. Plea bargains are subject to the approval of the court, and. Introduction until recently, nigerians were not familiar with the legal term plea bargain as it was not part of the nigerian legal system. Mar 27, 2012 introduction the concept and use of plea bargain in nigeria has caused much furore in recent years. The nigerian criminal justice system is set in motion the moment a crime is committed. Attorneys decisions regarding whether to plea bargain a case are largely based on the strength of the evidence against the defendant burke, 2007. Supporters defend it on the grounds that it expedites cases, reduces processing costs, and helps authorities obtain cooperation from defendants. The plea bargain practise in nigeria to be or not to be the plea bargain principle no doubt is becoming one of the most useful means of quick disposal of criminal trials the world over. The application of plea bargaining and restorative justice. Turner plea bargaining dominates the criminal process in the united states today, yet it remains highly controversial. This has been because of its use by the economic and financial crimes commission efcc in dealing with cases of corruption by public officials and others holding offices of public trust.
Dec 15, 2010 in other words, plea bargaining is arguably another outgrowth of late19thcentury industrialization. Typically this is the maximum charge or punishment that the defendant will be held to if he or she goes to trial. Protocol i would like to thank the nigerian bar association for the. Some of the innovative provisions in the acja include the provisions on plea bargaining in section 270 of the act. Analyzing the provision for plea bargaining under the administration of criminal justice act, 2015 and its likely impact on the trial of corruption and other cases by christopher olayiwola ogundare, esq. Therefore, in my stand, plea bargaining should not be totally abolished. Such sentiments were contained in the 1993 royal report and the justice for all white paper, published in 2002 allafrica 2015. The concept of plea bargaining in nigeria criminal law nigeria. The practice of plea bargaining and its effect on the anticorruption crusade in nigeria by yekini abubakri olakulehin introduction nigeria is a country with enormous natural resources.
Part four discusses the implications of the application of plea bargain on nigeria s anti corruption campaign while part five concludes the paper by way of recommendations on how to address the flaws. A comparison of charging decisions in sexual assault cases involving strangers, acquaintances, and intimate partners the prosecutor plays a key role in the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system in nigeria commences with the commission of a crime and continues with subsequent interventions by the law enforcement agencies of the system that has the power to arrest, arraignment, trial, sentencing and punishment of the offender. Pdf has the concept of plea bargaining been abused in. The process whereby a criminal defendant and prosecutor reach a mutually satisfactory disposition of a criminal case, subject to court approval. The articles examines the legality of the concept of plea bargaining in nigeria in the light of its application to some high profile cases in recent times.
Introduction the concept and use of plea bargain in nigeria has caused much furore in recent years. Reinganum the united states sentencing commission was created to develop federal sentencing guidelines, which restrict judicial discretion and were found to increase the average sentence length while leaving unchanged the likelihood of resolution through plea bargaining. Under the plea bargaining provisions of broad application in nigeria, enacted in 2015, the prosecution may offer. This is why one of the scriptural books had declared thus. He argued that in nigeria, the use of plea bargaining was being bastardised because most of the suspects allowed to make the pleas were paying back a fraction of the money they had stolen.
Plea bargaining and the administration of criminal justice in nigeria. Plea bargaining dominates the criminal process in the united. Sep 26, 2017 as part of its efforts to fasten criminal justice administration and decongest prisons in the state, lagos state government has unveiled manual for plea and sentence bargaining. Follow that row to the right until you see the range under your criminal history and criminal livelihood number across the top. Uwujaren, reportedly took umbrage at the judgment and openly declared its intention to file an appeal. She or he decides who will be charged, what charge will be filed, who will be offered a plea bargain, and the type of bargain that will be. Leonard, waiver of protections against the use of plea bargains and plea bargaining statements after mezzanatto, 23 crim. Should plea bargaining be abolished or encouraged in nigeria. Jun 12, 2016 the plea bargaining has no place in the nigeria constitution, therefore, the judiciary is not doing what is taught by the law to do and must of the time ensure that the legal process is abused. The history of the application of plea bargaining in nigeria started with the. A plea bargain is an agreement entered into between a prosecutor and a defendant, pursuant to which the defendant agrees to enter into a guilty plea in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. This document is a research report submitted to the u. Charge bargaining accused pleads guilty to the charge or part of charge or to a lesser offence and agreed to forfeit properties to the state. Noncustodial measures should be extended to high profile cases.
Plea bargaining is a defining, if not the defining, feature of the federal criminal justice system brown and bunnell, 2006. Lagos unveils plea, sentence bargaining manual the guardian. The legality of the use of plea bargain in the nigerian. D senior lecturer, faculty of law, nnamdi azikiwe university, awka. D lecturer faculty of law, anambra state university igbariam. Agreements may be entered into before, during, or after the presentation of the prosecutions evidence. However, in nigeria, the obverse is the case as collective bargaining gained its root in the public sector owing to the near absence of private sector at the turn of the century. During inspection of detention centres by magistrates, an offic ial of the legal aid council of nigeria should be present. Some comparative analysis is carried out in relation to the use of plea bargaining under the. Analyzing plea bargaining for corruption cases under the. The practice of plea bargaining and its effect on the anti. Plea bargaining is a significant part of the criminal justice system in the united states.
Where the state decides to prosecute every offence as alleged, the courts will be greatly overburdened. The controversy trailing the concept of plea bargain in the nations criminal justice system is not likely to end soon. Ekpo nta, should plea bargaining apply to all offences in nigeria being a discussion paper. Luwaga suleman alias katongole v uganda criminal appeal no. It must be noted that not every dispute can be resolved through arbitration. Collective bargaining and conflict resolution in nigerias. A preliminary study of how plea bargaining decisions by prosecution and defense attorneys are affected by eyewitness factors march 5, 2012. Its applicability in nigeria will certainly have positive impacts amidst the criticisms.
The abuse of plea bargain in nigeria a plea bargain is an agreement between the prosecutor and the accused person in a criminal trial. Answers typically consist of a ten to fourteenpage brief synthesising the state of knowledge on a particular topic. Supreme court allows plea bargaining in drug cases. Nigeria founded in 1894 was not unionized until 1942.
The irregularities in the legal framework for the invoking, interpreting and applying plea bargaining in nigeria before the enactment of administration of criminal justice act 2015 are examined. This is consistent with both decision theory accounts of plea bargaining and economic models of plea bargaining covey, 2007. A trial procedure that negates fundamental rights of the accused person 3 argued that the process of plea bargaining violates the following rights guaranteed under the us constitution and the 1999 constitution of nigeria which are, the presumption of innocence of the accused person until proven. Plea bargaining and the criminal justice system in nigeria2. Plea bargaining and the criminal justice system in nigeria. Plea bargaining by mirko bagaric, julie clarke et al. In 2010, a plea bargain was struck with cecilia ibru, the former chief executive of. The abuse of plea bargain in nigeria sahara reporters. When it is successful, plea bargaining results in a plea agreement between the prosecutor and defendant. While plea bargaining is a new trend in nigeria, the practice is considered a common phenomenon in the u. Plea and charge bargaining office of justice programs.
There are very old criminal statutes in nigeria that describe the concept of pleabargaining and provide for it without expressly using the phrase plea bargaining. In the past, eminent jurists, including kayode eso, jsc late and the former chief justice of nigeria, dahiru musdapher have criticized the resort to plea bargaining by the anticorruption agencies. Plea bargain concept was surreptitiously smuggled into our statutory laws with the creation of the efcc eco. The concept of plea bargain is a new phenomenon in the nigerian legal system. Protocol i would like to thank the nigerian bar association for the honour and rare privilege to be called. That range is the minimum and maximum sentencing in months. Pdf the use of plea bargain in nigerian criminal law. They bargain with the judge, bargain with the accused person. A preliminary study of how plea bargaining decisions by. Sentence bargain acused may be toldin advance what his sentence would be if he pleads guilty to the. Plea bargaining is an arrangement between the prosecutor and defendant whereby the defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for a more lenient sentence or an arrangement to drop other.
Even the royal niger company now uac of nigeria with vast political and commercial interests in nigeria was not organized until 1946. Plea bargaining legal definition of plea bargaining. The global practice of plea bargaining and the nigerian legal. Sentencing guidelines, judicial discretion and plea bargaining. Restorative justice has been introduced into the nigerian criminal justice system by the enactment of the administration of criminal justice act, 2015. Here are some additional advantages and disadvantages of plea bargaining to take a look at today. May 07, 2020 use the federal sentencing table to determine your length of time in prison. One disadvantage of plea bargaining, according to an online article is the concrete disadvantage is that there is some reduction in the conviction offense or sentence on both.
The parties involved in a plea bargain are the prosecutor. Consequently, the general public often associates plea bargaining with widely publicized highprofile corruption cases. Nigeria in nigeria, plea bargaining has been employed in a. The study precisely advocated for outright dropping of the plea bargain in corruption prosecution in nigeria because of its tendency to deepen and extenuate.
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