Many lawyers and human rights activists have described the Administration Of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) as the most innovative in Nigerian Criminal Justice.
There are laws therein which are pushing for equality for women, which many women, probably out of ignorance, have not been tapped.
Determined to ensure that Nigerian women get to know about these laws and tap into them, a nongovernmental organisation, Rights Enforcement and Public Law Centre (REPLACE) with Support from the Rule of Law and Anti-corruption Programme (RoLAC) and International IDEA recently met on Ikeja, Lagos State to speak about these laws and how to escalate them.
The REPLACE Team spent hours, explaining how to further sensitise Nigerian women about the favourable laws in the Administration Of Criminal Justice Law, which many women have repeatedly shied away from tapping into.
The convener of the confab, Felicitas Aigbogun-Bra, who is also the Executive Director of REPLACE, said that the interactive parley aimed at raising awareness about the ACJL and to increase knowledge about the provisions which protect and promote the rights of women.
The event witnessed an impressive turnout of pastors, police, journalists, lawyers, farmers, traders and members of the civil society organisations, all women.
According to Aigbogun-Brai, the purpose of the ACJL is to ensure that the system of administration of criminal justice in Nigeria promotes efficient management of criminal justice institutions, speedy dispensation of justice, protection of the society from crime and protection of the rights of the suspect, the defendant, and the victim.
She also explained that innovations in the ACJL include Compensation to victims or witnesses and this is often described as restorative justice.
This, she said, is “forfeiture of properties by guilty defendants and sale of these properties to compensate the victims of crimes,”
Another innovation is the establishment of a Criminal Record Database and Repository of information on suspects and offenders from arrest to judgment.
Other lauded innovations in the ACJL, said Aigbogun-Brai, are Plea bargain and sentence agreements, Prohibition of media parade of suspects, Victim and witness protection, Video conferencing for criminal proceedings without physical attendance in the courtroom and Power of magistrate to visit police stations, which is now mandatory.
Aigbogun-Brai explained that the provisions in the ACJL that protect women are the Prohibition of Arrest in Lieu – Section 4, “No person shall be arrested in place of another.”
Aigbogun-Brai further said: “In a report by Access to Justice; 10% of police officers disclosed that, where a suspect could not be found, they are likely to arrest a close relative or member of the family of such a suspect to make the suspect show up.
“12% of inmates reported that police officers still arrest non-suspects instead of the arrest of an actual. Right to Bail – Section 115; Bail for minor offences, emphasizing conditions that do not disproportionately burden the poor.
“Right to counsel – Section 3; At the centre of the right to fair hearing is access to effective legal representation through a competent counsel. The Constitution anticipates that anyone who is accused of a crime should have legal representation.
“Surety for Bail – Section 118, no person shall be denied from standing as surety on the ground that the person is a woman. This permits women to stand as sureties for bail, countering age-old cultural biases which traditionally excluded women from such roles. This provision of the law promotes gender equality and is particularly significant in dismantling gender stereotypes and enabling women to support loved ones within the bounds of the law.”
Another provision that favours women, said the ED of REPLACE is the Rights of Married Women to Own Property – Section 144.
Aigbogun-Brai noted: “Every woman who has contracted a valid marriage shall have in her name against all persons whomsoever, including the husband of such marriage, subject to the provisions of any other law the same remedies and redress by way of criminal proceedings for the protection and security of her separate property as if such property belonged to her as an unmarried woman.
“Nigeria has an Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, and Lagos has the Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2015, amended 2021. About 30 States in Nigeria have enacted the Administration of Criminal Justice Law. We have the legal framework, now we need the processes and practice to catch up.”
