No more imprisonment for petty offender- Lagos CJ – TheNigerialawyer

Petty offenders will no longer be sentenced to prison terms, the
Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Opeyemi Oke has said.

She disclosed this on Monday at the official presentation of the
two practice directions, the ACJL Practice Direction and
Restorative Justice Practice Direction, held as part of effort to
ensure effective justice system.

The event held at the Lagos Judiciary Conference Room,
Ikeja.

Justice Oke said once the Practice Directions “comes into
operation on June 3, minor offences will be diverted to these
centres and Restorative Justice outcomes applied to ensure that
persons who commit minor offences will no longer end up in
jail.

“So long as they are prepared to take responsibility for their
actions and the harm they have caused system,” she said.

Justice Oke said the Magistrates Courts, which would use the
practice directions, would focus on reconciliation with the victim
and community at large, rehabilitation, restitution and repair of
the harm done and will as much as possible, under the law, impose
non- custodial sentences including fines, restitution orders,
community service orders and so on.

The Chief Judge said the documents mark a history era in the
Criminal Justice administration in Lagos State.

She listed some of the highlights of the ACJL Practice Direction
includes tightening the Pre-Trial Remand procedure to address the
challenge of Awaiting Trial inmates, introduction of the Plea
Bargain Protocol to encourage Plea deals and decongest the Criminal
Division docket and introduction of Case Management Protocol to
ensure that the Prosecution and Defence are properly prepared
before trial opens.

“Criminal justice administration in the Country has been beset
by a myriad of challenges ranging from ineffective or incomplete
investigations, delays in criminal trials, congested court dockets,
the awaiting trial syndrome and the attendant congestion of our
prisons, to name a few.

“Today in Nigeria we have seen countless cases where defendants
are arrested for minor offences burglary, wandering, two fighting
and so on; they are locked up in our prisons for the flimsiest
reasons and join the teeming population awaiting trial. “In fact
the Awaiting trial inmates account for more than 75% of the inmates
in our prisons today.

“They are in our prisons with hardened criminals and by the time
they come out they have been initiated into a life of crime and are
ready to spread terror, death and destruction in their post-prison
escapades,” she lamented.

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