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BAIL: Time for a rethink? Continues from page 32 away capriciously. In that regard, statutory inclination is to clothe a Trial Judge or any other judicial officer for that matter, with the discretion to grant bail to an accused subject to well-known guidelines. Thus, the brand new Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, (following the Statutes which it repeals, i.ethe Criminal Procedural Act and The Criminal Procedure Code)makes provision for bail. By Section 158 thereof, it stipulates that, “when a person is suspected to have committed an offence or is accused of an offence, is arrested or detained, or appears or is brought before a Court, he shall subject to the provision of this part, be entitled to bail.” This recent enactment which came into force in the twilight of the Jonathan administration makes provision for bail even in cases where the accused is charged with a capital offense.
Capital offence By virtue of Section 161 of the Act, only a Judge of the High Court can admit to bail, “a suspect arrested, detained or charged with an offence punishable with death … under exceptional circumstances”. Although the law reports are littered with well decided cases concerning bail, it appears that Bamiyi v. The State (2001) 8 NWLR (Pt. 715) 270 is in the frontline of advocacy for liberalizing the grant of bail.in Bamiyi, the Apex reasoned that, “The Trial Court has in most cases discretion to admit the accused person to bail pending trial. In the exercise of the discretion, the following are the most important ingredients which will guide the court,i.e:(a) the nature of the charge; the evidence by which it is supported; the sentence which by law may be passed in the event of a conviction; the probability that the accused will appear to take his trial”. On the peculiar facts of Bamiyi, he was not granted bail but nonetheless, the case constructed an indestructible template for reviewing applications for bail.
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arraignment. By the same token, Honourable Justice Kolawole released on bail, Governor SuleLamido, whose bail application was not heard by His Learned Judicial Brother (or Sister) sitting in the Kano Division. There are innumerable cases in which the grant of bail has either been delayed or realized on conditions which can cause alarm. Traditional rulers are presently preferred as sureties just like persons who are public servants, landed gentry or money bags. It ought to be remembered that a surety who executes a bond in a given sum must be willing to extreat the bond when the accused person absconds or jumps bail. Should our public
servants still in active service be placed in jeopardy of losing their career just to make bail conditions stringent? There questions and there are questions. Irrespective of the intensity of public opinion, the tendentious posture of the prosecution (which makes a habit of opposing bail applications irrespective of the merits), the individual preference of the judicial personnel and the deleterious effect to fair hearing of trial by or in the press, bail should be available to those who can meet the conditions as set by the court – which of course ought to be liberal too. Let corruption be fought without hesitation but without destroying the foundation of liberty afforded by the Constitution.
Lawyers brainstorm on ICT, future of legal profession Many other cases bear out this position. In M.K.O Abiola v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (1994) 1 NWLR (Pt. 370) 155, the Court of Appeal postulated much earlier, that, “since the court presumes in favour of the liberty of the subject and his innocence until found guilty, the onus is on the prosecution to show, in a given case, that an accused or applicant for bail is one that should be refused” (See alsoEyu v.The State (1988) 3 NWLR (Pt. 78) 602 at 610). Can all those engaged in the administration of criminal justice heed this advice? Even in the bail application of one of the most vilified high profile accused (at the time) the Court of Appeal did not hesitate to lay down the principle that, “indeed in a criminal trial as long as an accused person has not previously jumped bail and
On the peculiar facts of Bamiyi, he was not granted bail but nonetheless, the case constructed an indestructible template for reviewing applications for bail
subsequently delayed prosecution of the charges laid against him, he is entitled to protection under the Constitutional provisions which includes freedom of movement and presumption of innocence. Thus, no matter how seemingly serious, grave, heinous or unconscionable an alleged offence or offences committed by an accused person might look, he is still entitled to that presumption as an article of faith and matter of rights guaranteed by the Constitution”.
Criminal proceedings Contrary toIbori, the events surrounding the recent criminal proceedings commenced by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against certain Ex-Governors of some states put the criminal justice system under public scrutiny. ExGovernors MurtalaNyako of Adamawa State, IkediOhakim of Imo State, SuleLamido of Jigawa State and Timpre Sylva of Bayelsa state were brought before the Federal High Court within the same week. While they are all on bail, it seems that Honourable JusticesAdemola and Kolawole did very well in epitomizing the spirit of liberalism which this brief article recommends. Honourable Justice Ademola granted bail to GovernorIkediOhakim the same day the bail application was granted and only a day after his
By Onozure Dania
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AWYERS, under the aegis of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and stakeholders in the justice sector, have gathered to brainstorm on the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), on the profession. The maiden edition of the ELegal Conference, themed, “Tomorrow’s Legal”, was organized by Nigeria’s fastest growing online community of Legal professionals, thelearnedfriend.com, at Lagos Court of Arbitration, International Centre for Arbitration and ADR, Lagos. Thelearnedfriends.com is an online news aggregator and social media platform focused on showcasing technological innovations in the legal sector. According to the Managing Director, Mrs. Mobola Obileye, "the nature of legal services is changing as more legal businesses are incorporating technology and digital media into their daily operations.” Immediate past chairmanNBA Lagos branch, Mr. Alex Mouka, while delivering a keynote address, said the benefit of the conference was unquantifiable when juxtaposed with the cost of acquiring modern day technology, noting that lawyers must begin to brace up towards the challenges ahead. He said: “The whole world is moving in a particular direction-
digital, and we lawyers cannot afford to be left behind. The idea about these conferences is to begin to prepare our minds as lawyers. I don’t expect that it will be an overnight change, no. It is not going to happen. But if we understand that someday we must operate in a completely online environment, then the sooner we begin to pull down the roadblocks the better. We may not achieve a paperless office now. We do appreciate that more of our work has to be done in an online mobile environment and then begin to set up the tools. " Mouka, speaking on how realistic the fusion between the ICT and the legal profession will work out, he said: “Again, if something is bound to happen, it is going to happen. We should not only count the cost as it has been noted here. Most of the solutions are scalable. it is not as if you have to start with the most expensive solution, some of the solutions that have been suggested here can be tailored to the size or scope of your practice.If you have a small firm there’s solution for you and if you have a large firm there is also a solution you can adopt. Also, speaking Chief Bolaji Ayorinde SAN, noted that “The world is a global village and the legal profession must keep up with the international best practices. “All over the world new trends are coming up and Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind when
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