We have to modify death penalty – Raji

Despite the introduction of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), criminal trials are still not fast. What is responsible?  I think the law is a welcome development. But there are other areas that should be addressed so as to complement the law and make it more efficient. For example, the court recording system is […]

Despite the introduction of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), criminal trials are still not fast. What is responsible? 

I think the law is a welcome development. But there are other areas that should be addressed so as to complement the law and make it more efficient. For example, the court recording system is still largely manual which definitely will be weighing down the judges no matter how well-intentioned they may be. It will be like imposing a hi-tech on a low-tech environment, which will definitely produce crisis.

So, I believe the innovations in the law are good, but the wherewithal to implement it to the letter is not there at the moment. If the judges will work at the pace the Act expects them to, I am not sure majority of them will still have their health intact. Therefore, there is need to look at the recording system, condition of service, personnel, and a host of other things.  

The NBA recently said only eight states have adopted the law. Considering that many state judiciaries have no financial autonomy, won’t it be challenging for the states to adopt and fund this Act? 

You can’t force the states, this is a federal system. The fact that Abuja sees a model right, does not mean the states will see it that way. Better we allow them to exercise their freedom rather than muscle them to accept what they may not be able to implement faithfully. Perhaps, if it works very well here in Abuja, that will be a good basis for them to try to copy, adopt and adapt it as the case may be. 

I do not think it will be a proper approach to expect them to buy it hook, line and sinker; stock, lock and barrel, whatever has been enacted in the federal capital. Some of the states may even come up with a model that is better than what we have in the ACJA. For example, Lagos has a progressive criminal procedure law. I would rather expect that they look at it and try to improve on it, so that there should be competition rather than copying.  

The Corruption and other Financial Crime Cases Trials Monitoring Committee (COTRIMCO) has not taken off weeks after and the issues around the membership has led to insinuations on whether the committee is dead on arrival?   

I think it is a bit too early to start expecting things from the committee. They have just been inaugurated, they have to sit and agree on ground rules. And I don’t think the committee was given a deadline. Besides, it is not about visiting the courts, it is about looking at the entire system. Their involvement may come in terms of advice to the CJN or the heads of courts, or the judiciary and legal practitioners because criminal trial is not all about judges alone. They have to monitor the entire process and advice, not just judges, it should include defence counsel, the bar, the bench and all the stakeholders in the criminal justice system. We should give them the benefit of the doubt that they are equal to the task. 

On the issue of some of them being defence counsel, I think that makes it better because they will know where it pinches more unlike people who have never had anything to do with criminal trial. I think what matters most is the integrity and goodwill they are bringing into their work. 

Some of them have prosecuted before. J.B. Daudu has prosecuted on behalf of the Federal Government; A.B. Mahmud used to be Attorney General of Kano State. He was Director of Public Prosecutions, he has also prosecuted on behalf of the Federal Government; and Chief Wole Olanipekun has defended quite a number of cases. So, these are well qualified people who could be of crucial assistance to the justice sector in terms of advice and their experiences in the system.  

About 2,194 inmates are now on death row in Nigerian prisons and many of them are from the lower class. The perception is that the criminal justice system is skewed against the poor. Do you agree with that? 

I do not think so. First the poor are in the majority? When you talk in terms of who should be more in any place apart from the gathering of the nobles, the poor should be more. What are the kinds of crimes that attract death penalty? Murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, are not the kind of offences that the upper class ordinarily engage in. Therefore, having that populated by the poor is not unusual because the class of crimes that attract death penalty is more or less the class of crimes that the poor often commit. 

You may cite treasonable felony but it is not quite often to have treason as subject matter of criminal trial. When it comes to kidnapping, you may not see a noble man going into kidnapping, killing, armed robbery. You will never hear a billionaire committing armed robbery, what is he going to rob for? 

Perhaps the question should be, should death penalty still remain in our statute books? In some countries or some states in the USA, the death penalty is no longer there. Even in Islam there is forgiveness; you can pay some atonement and it will be over.  I believe attention should be do we still retain death penalty or modify it or limit it to those who have taken life intentionally, not those who have taken life accidentally or in the course of an unlawful act, which they ought to know might result in death even though they did not set out to kill. But if your are original intention is not to kill, I think the death penalty should be excused. But where somebody really set out and say I must kill either by poison or any other means, death penalty should be given to the person. 

What is your take on the controversy generated by the NGO Bill? 

I have not read that bill, but I think freedom of speech should be protected seriously and should not be allowed to be trampled upon directly or indirectly. However, any freedom without a check leads to abuse and abuse is a negation of other peoples’ freedom.