‘ACJA provision for day-to-day trial impracticable, need amendment’

By Clement A. Oloyede Some provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) are impracticable and inconsistent with the letters and spirit of the constitution, a judge of the FCT High Court, Valentine Ashi, has said. Speaking at a forum on the ‘Role of Lawyers in the Anti-Corruption Fight: Challenges and Solutions’ in Abuja, […]

By Clement A. Oloyede

Some provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) are impracticable and inconsistent with the letters and spirit of the constitution, a judge of the FCT High Court, Valentine Ashi, has said.

Speaking at a forum on the ‘Role of Lawyers in the Anti-Corruption Fight: Challenges and Solutions’ in Abuja, Justice Ashi said lawyers hold the key to the fight against corruption and “must not be complicit in this damnable conduct.”

She said, however, that some of the provisions in the ACJA including the provision for day-to-day trial needed to be reviewed to be practicable and consistent with the constitution that provides that an accused person standing trial shall be given adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence.

“When these clear constitutional provisions are compared with the provisions of Section 396 of ACJA, it gives one cause for concern as respect to the constitutionality of the provisions of the Act,” she said.

She added that this conflict puts a trial judge in a fix as to which of the laws he is expected to obey in the management of criminal cases, especially corruption cases.

Justice Ashi said if the judge “chooses to follow the letters and spirit of the constitution, which is the right thing to do, wouldn’t he be predisposing himself to public disavowal and odium, including being branded as having been compromised through a bribe by looters of the treasury?”