Tn keeping faith with the vision of ensuring justice for residents of Lagos State, the Chief Judge, Justice Adetula Alabi, has initiated yet another ground-breaking innovation into the Criminal Justice System.
Announcing the reforms in the administration of Criminal Justice Law of the state, Justice Alabi stated that henceforth, magistrates and judges are to sentence convicts to community service.
According to him, the new reforms have mandated magistrates and judges to sentence convicts to serve in such places as old people’s homes, orphanages and during environmental sanitation.
In the statement he delivered at the press conference organised to sensitise the public on the series of reforms in the state Criminal Justice Law, Justice Alabi said “it is nowokay for the court to commit a convict to render community service instead of custodial sentence.”
He added that such community service may be in the nature of environmental sanitation, assisting in the care of children and the elderly in government approved homes or any other type of service which in the opinion of the court, would have a beneficial and salutary effect on the character of the offender.
To enforce this provision, Justice Alabi stated that community service officers have been appointed in all the magisterial districts to effectively carry out the community services given to them.
The new reforms also stipulates that it is now illegal to arrest somebody else’s husband, wife, son, brother, co-worker, neighbour, child, etc., in place of a suspect.
Confessional statements by suspects to the police shall now be recorded in video and produced at the trial and where there is no video facility, such confessional statements must be obtained from the suspect in the presence of his lawyer.
Private persons also now have the power to arrest persons suspected to have committed offences in their presence, including those who damage public property.
In an effort to remove the public perception of an “accused person” as a convicted person, the chief judge also announced that henceforth, any accused person in the Lagos judiciary divisions are now to be referred to as “defendants” and not accused.
He explained that the public now seems to stigmatise accused persons with the alleged crimes that they are standing trial for, hence the need to now address them as defendants.
According to the new reforms, magistrates in the Lagos judiciary are to be addressed as “your honour” and not “your worship” as was the case in the past.
He explained that “your worship” is used for deities and not for mere humans.
Another innovation into the Criminal Justice System announced by the chief judge is that there will no longer be stay of proceeding for any criminal case in court until such matter has been decided by way of judgement.
This, according to the chief judge, is to eradicate the unnecessary delays occasioned by frivolous applications and motions for stay of proceedings.
It is hoped that the appropriate authorities and stakeholders in the judiciary system will ensure that these new reforms are adhered to and properly implemented.
—Henry Ojelu
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