The Global Practice of Plea Bargaining and the Nigerian Legal System

Abstract

Plea bargaining is now a global feature in the administration of Criminal Justice the world over. The trend is of such a tsunamic force that nations whose Legal Systems hitherto does not recognize the concept of a plea in criminal prosecutions are now developing, evolving and coining various concepts to accommodate a form of lea bargaining in their legal system.Plea bargaining is a practice in a criminal proceeding whereby the accused is induced to plead guilty to a charge in return for a lesser sentence or dropping of some charges or both.The concept seems nouveau in the scope of principal Nigerian criminal legislations and case law. The practice is really gaining ground in the Nigerian criminal justice process in Lagos state and more especially, in the prosecution of financial crimes undertaken by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC). This notwithstanding, the question however, how does the concept intend to socialize withe the Nigerian Legal System and the populace as a whole?The paper is an attempt to find a rendezvous between the concept of plea bargain and the Nigerian Legal System. This paper set forth the substance of the global concept and practice of plea bargaining from a perspective that is holistic and with an unbiased jurisprudential basis. It is hope to show that it is illuminating against the background of the Nigerian jurisprudential dynamics and hybrid legal system.