Critique of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2019 of Katsina State

Abstract

Generally, the Administration of Criminal Justice in the whole of the federation from independence up to some few years ago had been a hub of many disappointments which usually culminated to the denial of justice. These ranges from prolong delay in conducting trials, too much adherence to technicality by courts, congestion of detention centres and so on. The negative trends however, started to lose strength in the wake of positive revolution in the area which resulted to the enactments of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) in 2015. The passage of the Act and its domestication by other states counterpart was thus a positive response for a new legal order to transform the criminal justice system in Nigeria. The Act repealed the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) and Criminal Procedure Code(CPC). It is tailored to reflect international best practices in the administration of criminal justice and is applicable in all federal courts across the Federation. Twenty-nine (29) out of 36 States of the federation have adapted the Administration of Criminal Law (ACJL) in their States, as at February 2020. Kaduna and Enugu enacted ACJL in 2017 respectively, Oyo enacted ACJL in 2016. Katsina state has followed suit in 2019 by domesticating the law. The methodology implored is a doctrinal analysis. The paper critically examines the Law by taking a cursory look at its philosophical foundation, key issues with its attendant laudable provisions. It argues that, the extant law, though a giant leap in the establishment of an effective legislative bench mark for administration of criminal justice in the state, falls short of provisions in the following areas; failure to eliminate lay prosecution; a gap on the provision of noncustodial measures among others. Finally, the paper, recommend the amendment of the law to eliminate lay prosecution and provision on non-custodial measures.