CJN Ban On Plea Bargain For Graft

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, has banned the use of plea bargain and trial by public parade against suspected criminals and corrupt public office holders. This is coming at a critical time in the nation’s life, where the plea bargaining has smeared the judicial process and has ridiculed effort at securing justice.

While delivering a speech at this year’s 5th annual general conference of the Nigeria Bar Association, he said the two prosecutorial tools were not only alien to the nation’s statute, but also dangerous to its justice system. Specifically, he mentioned that they should never be mentioned in the country’s jurisprudence.

Plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, typically for a lesser charge for a reduced punishment/sentence. It is a prosecutorial tool that allows criminal defendants to avoid the risk of conviction at trial on the original more severe charge.

This has been wielded by the government and her agencies in impeding the prosecution of top public officials. Examples of its use were for former Inspector- General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun, and former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who were convicted via this prosecutorial tool.

This tool remains controversial and has been deployed in the resolution of the multi-billion dollar Halliburton and Siemen scandals with the culprit left off the hook. It has been argued that this tool comes handy as a result of our weak legal system.

We are pleased with CJN’s resolve that it should never again be mentioned in our jurisprudence. This alien tool has its origins from the criminal justice system of United State and plays a critical role over there and should be left there for now; if it has to be used then we have to legislate and pass it into law with discreetness.:

http://businessnews.com.ng/2011/11/17/cjn-ban-on-plea-bargain-for-graft/

Wow!
I am in total sopot of this.

One of the most s. tupid acts in a long time. I hope the National Assembly passes the whistle blower act soon to restore this. How can a man be so unenlightened?

This would be wonderful if it could be implemented

Please can they back-date this to start from 1985? I say this because I believe that's when corruption really started in Nigeria.

.NET

A step in the right direction. I pray it is not one of those lip statements typical of this present govt. If it is anything to go by, I am afraid prosecution and conviction of those good for nothing retarded politicians will be rare now. I wish EFCC and ICPC could could also step up their game.

Good if allowed to work. Laws works only in nigeria the day they are made and after the day it only exixt in the pockets of some

Good

Good riddance for bad rubbish!

I just hope this is true

This statement by the CJN doesn't make sense.

Let's reason: A particular charge has been brought against a particular corrupt public servant lets say
EMBEZZLEMENT of public funds. which let's make an assumption carries a minimum of 5 years and a maximum
of 15 years.

The defendant has a choice to plead guilty or not guilty to the charge,

Statement: by CJN
******************
Plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, typically for a lesser charge for a reduced punishment/sentence. It is a prosecutorial tool that allows criminal defendants to avoid the risk of conviction at trial on the original more severe charge.

****************** I am not grounded in law, but I don't think that is true.
I believe a plead bargain offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, typically for a reduced punishment/sentence
You plead guilty and then get the minimum sentence, if you decide to allow the prosecutor go through the trouble of a trial then you get the maximum

I don't understand the statement of the CJN, can someone please help me with some explanation, ?

They will simply look for another law to escape. Nigeria‘s law has many clauses in different corners to aid criminals in government. Though i support this move,

Good . . . but . . . will it work ?

this is a glaring example of bad journalism and even worse readership.
does the chief Justice have the power to ban anything?
if he does is this how it is done?
it is probably true that plea bargaining is not recognized in the British legal system and so technically he is right but he is not  "BANNING" anything he is expressing his (very momentous) opinion on what the law is now but this is quite different from banning.
if the national assembly want to formally introduce it NOTHING stops them.

I hope CJN will be able to clear the mess left behind by Katsina-Alu. Good one there

I hope this ban don't end up in a trash bin.

So if u're guilty, u're guilty and if not, no

I feel the CJ ought not to have expressed such an opinion publicly. However the SC has not pronounced on it.

i agree but what is shameful is that people do NOT seem to understand simple english both the writer and readers.

THERE IS NO BAN.

In as much as this is a good idea, the CJN does not have the power to ban plea bargain.

If it is not in our constitution and it has become a rule of practice in the Judiciary, he can only set it aside in the Supreme Court where he is the President and cannot order the Court of Appeal or the High Courts (both federal and states) to stop the practice. Only the NJC can make a pronounciation that would be binding on all being the regulatory body for judicial practice in Nigeria. Please see section 21(i) in the supplemental section of the constitution: the NJC shall have power to "deal with all other matters relating to broad issues of policy and administration"[b][/b]

This is an issue of policy in the judiciary and the CJN has no unilateral power to deal with it.

This is an issue of law not judicial administration. NJC dont go to their backyard to make judicial pronouncements

X-factoria:

In as much as this is a good idea, the CJN does not have the power to ban plea bargain.

If it is not in our constitution and it has become a rule of practice in the Judiciary, he can only set it aside in the Supreme Court where he is the President and cannot order the Court of Appeal or the High Courts (both federal and states) to stop the practice. Only the NJC can make a pronounciation that would be binding on all being the regulatory body for judicial practice in Nigeria. Please see section 21(i) in the supplemental section of the constitution: the NJC shall have power to "deal with all other matters relating to broad issues of policy and administration"

This is an issue of policy in the judiciary and the CJN has no unilateral power to deal with it.

i agree with you that the CJN has no power to do this but your explanation is wrong.
it is not a policy/admin issue but one of law and jurisprudence.
[b]where [/b]does plea bargaining take place. NOT in court

plea bargaining occurs at the level of prosecution i.e in the attorney general's office after the police or similar body conclude investigation and put a case bundle before the DPP AG etc
so e.g you have  mama suwe in custody and you have evidence to prosecute her but you agree you will not charge her if she agrees to do XYZ or you will charge her only for lesser offences .xyz will usually mean giving evidence against other bigger suspects.
in the case of corruption the prosecutor may feel that if the suspect agrees to refund some money that it would be cheaper than going to court and that there is a chance of not winning the case.
the CJ's pronouncement centres on whether the AG is allowed to do this
there are two issues
1.the AG may do this without even disclosing to the public
2 .if the AG does this who can challenge that decision
it is now part of our law since Gani vs FG in the matter of Dele Giwa that private individuals may bring prosecution for criminal cases but this is complex.
so in practice where a case of plea bargaining occurs the courts have not been involved and as such the question of policy/admin does not even come up.
another  lesser variant of plea bargaining may happen at the police level e.g arrest a man with small quantity of cocaine and agree not to take the case further if he shows them where he bought it

it is possible that in some countries (NOT NIGERIA) where plea bargaining is part of their law a plea bargain agreement will be permanently binding and perhaps the CJ's point is that if any plea bargain arrangement is challenged in court it will be revoked. but he cannot stop them happening in the first place

, sO sO on point and long overdue!!public hanging ll be a better deterrent#just saying

aribisala0:

i agree with you that the CJN has no power to do this but your explanation is wrong.
it is not a policy/admin issue but one of law and jurisprudence.
[b]where [/b]does plea bargaining take place. NOT in court

plea bargaining occurs at the level of prosecution i.e in the attorney general's office after the police or similar body conclude investigation and put a case bundle before the DPP AG etc
so e.g you have  mama suwe in custody and you have evidence to prosecute her but you agree you will not charge her if she agrees to do XYZ or you will charge her only for lesser offences .xyz will usually mean giving evidence against other bigger suspects.
in the case of corruption the prosecutor may feel that if the suspect agrees to refund some money that it would be cheaper than going to court and that there is a chance of not winning the case.
the CJ's pronouncement centres on whether the AG is allowed to do this
there are two issues
1.the AG may do this without even disclosing to the public
2 .if the AG does this who can challenge that decision
it is now part of our law since Gani vs FG in the matter of Dele Giwa that private individuals may bring prosecution for criminal cases but this is complex.
so in practice where a case of plea bargaining occurs the courts have not been involved and as such the question of policy/admin does not even come up.
another  lesser variant of plea bargaining may happen at the police level e.g arrest a man with small quantity of cocaine and agree not to take the case further if he shows them where he bought it

it is possible that in some countries (NOT NIGERIA) where plea bargaining is part of their law a plea bargain agreement will be permanently binding and perhaps the CJ's point is that if any plea bargain arrangement is challenged in court it will be revoked. but he cannot stop them happening in the first place

Thanks aribisala0.

I am not a Lawyer and I must admit I didn't have as much view of plea bargaining as you have highlighted above. From what I have read in American novels and also seen in their movies, I guess plea bargaining is binding in the US. The CIA and the FBI uses it a lot especially in cases of organized crimes and drugs trafficking. Thanks for the clarification once again.

BTW, are you the same Aribisala with Ajibola Aribisala SAN?

this is only possible on the pages of our newspapers.

.NET:

Please can they back-date this to start from 1985? I say this because I believe that's when corruption really started in Nigeria.

.NET

Hmmmm, hope Lucky Igbinedion is reading this oooo, his sins are still trying to find him out!

someone help me please. i'm not a lawyer.

1. do we have "PLEA BARGAIN" in Nigerian statutes?

2. Kindly quote the section(s) of the law that provide for it.

3. i'm just curious that the Chief Justice would ban what was not established by law in the first place.

4. if plea bargain is established by law, then i thought the section of the law should be amended by the national assembly and not by fiat of the Chief Justice

GEJ has woken up!

The AG has discretionary powers to prosecute, so plea bargaining arises from that power.

As an agreement, it should be but if the court feels that its against public policy then it would not enforce it. That is if its unhealthy for criminal adm.

that is what the CJN is saying, there is no justice serve in plea bargaining. in the word of justice Kayode Esho (Retired JSC) " Justice is not one way, 2 way traffic but three ways- Justice to the plantif, defendant and society" in the case of plea bargaining, justice is not done to the society

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