An Appraisal of Emerging Issues in the Law and Practice Relating to Bail, Bondspersons and Forfeiture of Recognizance in Nigeria.

Abstract

Abstract A basic constitutional right of a suspect who is being held in the custody or is arraigned in court on criminal charges, is the right to be admitted to bail, pending the final determination of the case against him. This right is founded on the accusatorial criminal justice system, and the constitutional principle that an accused person is presumed innocent until his guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law. In exceptional circumstances, bail may even be granted also to a person who has been found guilty of a criminal offence, pending the determination of his subsisting or proposed appeal. Bail is granted to the accused person either unconditionally or subject to some conditions usually referred to as the terms of bail, which may include production of surety, sureties or bondspersons, among other conditions. The terms or conditions of bail are considered necessary for purposes of guaranteeing the availability of the accused person to face his trial, or until the final determination of the charge against him. Where an accused person who has been granted bail upon production of sureties or bondspersons, thereafter jumps bail, there is an obligation on the part of the surety/bondsperson to produce the accused person; else, the surety may be liable to show cause why the surety should not be made to forfeit the recognizance the surety entered into as a condition for admitting the accused person to bail. A lot of controversies and confusions has arisen from the practice and use of sureties/bondspersons, the abscondment of accused persons, the practice of revocation of bail and forfeiture of recognizance in Nigeria. This paper is aimed to explain as well as to examine the law and practice as they relate to grant of bail to suspects in custody and persons charged to court on commission of criminal offences, the use of recognizance, sureties or bondspersons, jumping of bail and the concept of forfeiture of recognizance in Nigeria. The aim of the authors herein is two-fold; to clarify the law and principles on these subjects, for the benefits of researchers, practitioners and stakeholders in criminal justice administration, to analyse the practical application of the law in these fields with a view to determining on the one hand, to what extant the practice in Nigeria is in tandem with extant law and principles of reasonableness, and on the other hand, the extent of conformity of the Nigerian law on same, to international best practices.