The warning by Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen against the issuance of “reckless” remand orders to the police could not have come at a more auspicious time, considering the inglorious effects of such orders on the administration of criminal justice in the country. A check on remand orders given too freely by the courts is undoubtedly the first step to arrest inordinate delay in criminal prosecution, as well as congestion of the prisons.
Although Chief Justice Onnoghen hit the nail on the head by identifying the salient issues regarding justice administration, the challenge of implementing the refrain is daunting, considering that it came at the opening of a conference in Abuja; and there had been several similar admonitions, mostly unheeded, to correct crass imbalance in the sector at various other functions.
It is a sad reality that many brilliant propositions presented in formal occasions hardly ever get mentioned, let alone implemented, outside the forum of presentation. The Chief Justice therefore needs to take his warning to a level beyond the Abuja conference. Nevertheless, his concern is apt that there is urgent need for a thorough and comprehensive reform of the justice sector to stop unnecessary delays and ensure access to justice at affordable costs.
Speaking at the opening of the 2018 All Nigerian Judges’ Conference of the Lower Courts held in Abuja, Justice Onnoghen said judges must not issue remand orders in cases where police lack concrete evidence to sustain its criminal allegations, or where the court does not have the requisite jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
Together, the two reasons adduced by the Chief Justice constitute the bane of proper and diligent administration of justice, and are directly responsible for the sorry plight of criminal suspects awaiting trial, who constitute the gross majority of occupants of prisons across the country. Very correctly, Justice Onnoghen had described the level of prisons’congestion in the country as a “national embarrassment.”
While that is appallingly so, the consequence of congestion, manifesting in poor feeding, poor health care and disgusting environment are even more horrendous as to defeat the desirable aim of imprisonment as a reformatory, rather than a punitive venture. Prisons everywhere are not leisure places, but Nigerian prisons have over the years acquired an uncanny reputation for their inhumanity.
Justice Onnoghen observed rightly that “the numerous and sometimes needless remand orders issued by Magistrates is a major factor responsible for congestion of our prisons.” The judicial officers affected by the CJN’s warning should take a cue and be part of this reform process. They should balance their fear, if any, of preventing the escape of criminal suspects from justice, with the noble desire to give the prisons a humane face and prevent unjust incarceration of suspects on flimsy grounds.
More importantly, adhering to the CJN’s admonition will perhaps inspire the police to conduct more diligent investigations of cases before arraigning crime suspects. The reality now is that the police, overburdened and under-motivated as they are, are often anxious to dump criminal matters on the courts. In that notion, their responsibilities are lighter, and their satisfaction of having taken action higher, once they obtained remand orders on the suspects. But the prisons and the prisoners are then forced to bear the consequential ugly brunt.
Justice Onnoghen had emphasised the need for heads of courts, in synergy with attorneys general of the states, to pay frequent visits to prison facilities within their jurisdictions in a bid to assess the situation in a first-hand basis. Instructively, such visits have been fairly regular lately; and have become perhaps the only fora by which many inmates awaiting trial get some relief, which is far from getting justice.
Often, findings by visiting Chief Judges and Chief Magistrates show that many detainees are hopeless as their files have disappeared and no one seems to remember their offences. In other instances, where offences are identified, the suspects had been imprisoned for much longer than the term stipulated by law had they been convicted of the offences.
While the visits have been useful in securing the release of detainees who have no prima facie case against them, or had been unduly detained without bail, there is obvious need for more concerted measures to eradicate wrongful detention and prison congestion. The CJN has identified the need to overhaul the country’s criminal justice system. To achieve his desire, he should incorporate enforcement into his warning towards formulating a total solution to the problem.
END
Be the first to comment