Speedy trial for corruption cases

In a bid to fast track the trial of alleged treasury looters, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, has directed judges to hear cases related to economic crimes and corruption with the necessary urgency. His words, “…Upon arraignment, the trial of the defendant shall proceed from day to day until the conclusion of […]

In a bid to fast track the trial of alleged treasury looters, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, has directed judges to hear cases related to economic crimes and corruption with the necessary urgency. His words, “…Upon arraignment, the trial of the defendant shall proceed from day to day until the conclusion of the trial, while each party is entitled to only five adjournments not exceeding two weeks.”
Recently the judiciary and lawyers alike have been under public scrutiny and criticism, some are of the opinion that the legal system and its operators are frustrating the ongoing fight against corruption in the law courts.  What the laymen fail to understand is that the system as it was before now slowed down dispensation of justice, not the lawyers (though some have a weakness of filing frivolous applications to stall proceedings). Before now, an interlocutory application can stall a criminal proceeding for years pending the determination of the appeal.
The essence of the newly enacted Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 is to forestall situations where accused persons use frivolous interlocutory applications to frustrate their trial. Thus if you ask this writer, it is a big step in the right direction; it means that with true practice of the act, criminal trials should not last more than six months, from start to finish (wow).
Using the fight against corruption as a case study, the media courts (i.e the social media and news courts) have concluded the trial of these public office holders who misappropriated public funds. To them, everybody alleged of corruption is guilty, even the pension’s director general, Nellie Mayshack, suspended indefinitely on alleged multi-billion naira fraud is already being called names like ‘ole’ ‘thief’ ‘the greediest of the corrupt DGs’ on the social media, barely two weeks of the story making the headlines.
The Nigerian populace, after declaring a guilty verdict in the media court, are earnestly waiting for the real courts of law to do something as soon as possible.
With this agitation for looters to begin serving their jail sentences, I doubt if Nigerians have the patience to wait a number of years for it to start happening.
The daily trial if followed judiciously would provide a solution for the lengthy years that criminal proceedings take to reach judgment; this places a new set of responsibilities on both the judges and lawyers handling such matters.  Trial preparation of a witness which hitherto took between three days to five weeks would now be conducted on a daily basis, the most time a counsel can get for an application for adjournment to open his case is two weeks.
Some argue that the lawyer’s responsibility doesn’t stop at representing the client alone, but that he must also be confident to tell the clients his true legal position and possible options.  In the words of Bashar Abubakar, “Lawyers should be bold to tell their clients the truth and should not allow themselves to be used as agents that sabotage the smooth dispensation of justice.”
The legal profession must act its part as ministers in the temple of justice while defending clients charged with economic related crimes to restore the society’s confidence in the judiciary as the last hope of the common man.  As it stands, the media courts have already passed judgment that most lawyers and the judiciary are corrupt and aiding corruption.
In all these, “We should not elevate one species of crime over another, the moment we do that, prosecution becomes selective and an incoming government can decide which criminal offence, drugs or armed robbery, requires speedy trial and then others will suffer. Our policy and jurisprudence should be anchored on the fact that any person suspected of penal infringement must face the rigours of the law within the confines of the rule of law,” Festus Okoye Esq (Human Rights Monitor).
The day-to-day trial is a plus to the fight against corruption but it should not be restricted to only economic related crimes: Every criminal offense should be given the same treatment.
Godspeed!
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