The coming of plea bargain law

The duo negotiated what would have caused them lengthy stay in prison with the forfeiture of their assets, including choice property in Nigeria and abroad.Nigerians wondered how plea bargain allowed the two aristocrats, who soiled their hands in the public treasury to stay off prison, while a common pauper who steals a tuber of yam […]

The duo negotiated what would have caused them lengthy stay in prison with the forfeiture of their assets, including choice property in Nigeria and abroad.
Nigerians wondered how plea bargain allowed the two aristocrats, who soiled their hands in the public treasury to stay off prison, while a common pauper who steals a tuber of yam is maximally exposed to criminal justice system that would commit him to serve his prison terms on conviction by courts of competent jurisdiction.
They also likened plea bargain to a slap on the wrist of thieving public and private officials to perpetuate their acts.
A plea bargain is an agreement in a case between the prosecutor and defendant whereby the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a certain case in exchange for some concession or soft ground from the prosecutor.
While plea bargain may appear to be strange in Nigeria, other countries have ingrained same in their legal lexicon in order to fast track dispensation of justice.
In the United States of America, plea bargain is very rampant in that vast majority of criminal cases there are settled by plea bargain rather than by jury trial.
According to Wikipedia, plea bargain trials in America has also been increasing in frequency having risen from 84 percent to 94 percent by the year 2001. The constitutionality of plea bargain in America was said to have been established by Brady Vs United States of America in 1970.
The court said: “It is unconstitutional for the state to extend benefit to a defendant who in turn extends a substantial benefit to the state and who demonstrates by his plea that he is ready and willing to admit his crime and enter the correctional system in a frame of mind that affords hope for success in rehabilitation over a shorter period of time than might otherwise be necessary.’’
In Canada, plea bargaining is now an acceptable part of the criminal justice system although judges and crown attorneys are often reluctant to apply it as such.
Plea bargaining in India, which was introduced by the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2005 only gives room for cases in which the maximum punishment is imprisonment for seven years. However offences affecting the socio-economic condition of the country and committed against a child below 14 years are excluded.
In England, plea bargaining in magistrate court trials is permitted only to the extent that the prosecutors and  defence can agree that the defendant will plead guilty to some charges and the prosecutor will drop the rest.
Nigeria is on the verge of infusing plea bargain into its constitution, which some observers say may after all be an antidote to the delay in the dispensation of criminal justice system in the country            
The bill entitled ‘Administration of Criminal Justice Bill 2013,’ had been passed by the House of Representatives which then forwarded it for the concurrence of the Senate.
Penultimate Thursday, the bill scaled second reading in the Senate. Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba said that the bill seeks to repeal the Criminal Procedure Act Cap C41 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004; the Criminal Procedure Act (Northern States) Cap C42 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria; the Administration of Justice Commission  Act Cap A3 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria; and enact the Administration of Justice Act to be applicable in Federal Courts and Courts of the Federal Capital Territory.
He explained that the primary objective of the bill is to ensure speedy and efficient administration of criminal justice in the country.
“It seeks to bring together the Criminal Code and Penal Code into one body of law so as to promote uniformity, protect the society from crime and protect the rights and interests of accused and victims in criminal proceedings in the country.”
According to him, the bill deals fundamentally with the problem of delay in the dispensation of criminal justice, this unarguably remains the most perturbing aspect of criminal justice delivery.
“Essentially, the bill makes provision for speedy and efficient administration of criminal justice in courts across the country.
“In this regard, restriction on number and interval of adjournments, electronic recording of trials to reduce the problems associated with trial de novo of part-heard matters, limits adjournment of cases to give time and not more than 14 days intervals between adjournments. The bill introduces plea bargain into Nigeria’s criminal justice administration.”
Though plea bargain is being employed in our courts to resolve high profile cases, it is being applied haphazardly due to the absence of an enabling legislation in the country
He  lamented that for several decades, Nigerians have lived with a criminal justice system that “is grindingly slow and open to abuses, rendering it most ineffective.”
According to him, from the police stations to the courts and the prisons, the “system has delivered everything but justice and the society has been the worse for it.”
He criticised  a situation where court cases drag on to the point that conviction becomes unlikely, “as witnesses may no longer be readily available; and where they are available, some facts relating to the case would  have been distorted, so much so that the essence of seeking justice by litigants is lost.”
He said many aggrieved citizens now shun the courts because they do not believe their cases could be disposed of in their life time let alone get justice, adding that part of the problems the system has, was its inability to apply commensurate punishment to infractions.
He added: “It is common to see a court give maximum sentence to a petty thief while those who stole billions of naira from the public coffers get far lesser sanctions for their crimes when convicted by the court.
“There have been instances where some accused persons win elections in the course of trial to an office they can manipulate the system or enjoy immunity from prosecution.”
Human rights lawyer, Femi Aborishade, said within the context of Nigeria, plea bargaining encourages and/or breeds corruption rather than deter corruption.
This, he said, is because once an accused pleads guilty to an aspect of corrupt practices as charged, he or she is allowed to go scot free with the bulk of the loot while only an insignificant portion of the loot is forfeited.
‘’The former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Dahiru Musdapher (Rtd), has declared plea bargaining as not only illegal but also unconstitutional, and I agree with him. Advocates of plea bargaining argue that it is provided for under Section 180 sub (1) of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) and Section 13 sub (2) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Act,’’ he said.
He explained that understandings of these statutory provisions are at variance with such a claim.
According to him, plea bargain should not be used to allow suspected looters of public treasury get away with their loot. Rather, plea bargaining should only be used for the benefit of a subordinate officer acting under the direction and for the benefit of a superior, provided the said subordinate officer does not benefit from the wrongdoing and/or crime.
Lagos lawyer Felix Fagboungbe said there is nothing wrong with the bill provided it is geared towards promoting quick dispensation of justice and not to unnecessarily feather the nest of looters in the country.
He suggested that the advantages of the bill should be weighed against its disadvantages in view of the nation’s socio-political environment.
Another Lagos lawyer, Ayeni Ojo, calls for caution in the passage of the bill that may conflict with the criminal justice system it seeks to correct.
The extent to which the bill will promote fast dispensation of justice and decongest prisons in the country would be seen when it eventually becomes law.