Law Criminal Justice Research Articles

Procedures for Admitting Confessional Statements under the Evidence Act, 2011, Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and the Administration of Criminal Justice Laws of Various States: Inconsistent or Complimentary?

Confessional statements are very vital in Nigeria’s administration of criminal justice as many convictions are based on confessional statements. The major laws regulating the admissibility of confessional statements in Nigeria are Evidence Act 2011, Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and Administration of Criminal Justice Laws of various States. The provisions of these laws seem to be inconsistent and create confusion on the admissibility of confessional statements. This paper defines and examines confessional statements under the Evidence Act 2011, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and the Administration of Criminal Justice Laws of Various States. The paper examines various court decisions on the “conflicts” between the Evidence Act 2011, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and the Administration of Criminal Justice Laws. The paper finds that the Evidence Act solely determines the admissibility of confessional statements while the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and the Administration of Criminal Justice Laws in conjunction with other evidence determines the weight to be attached to a confessional statement. The paper concludes that the Evidence Act and Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015/ the Administration of Criminal Justice Law are therefore complementary rather than inconsistent.

The Jurisprudence Of The Sokoto State Administration Of Criminal Justice Law 2019: Innovative Provisions, Redlines And Suggestions For Future Reforms

This article appraises the jurisprudence, innovative provisions, redlines inherent in the Sokoto State Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2019 and make suggestions for future reforms. Sokoto State is one of States in Nigeria that has domesticated the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 (ACJA 2015) through the signing into law of the Sokoto State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2019 by his Excellency, the Executive Governor of Sokoto State, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Mutawallen Sokoto) to take care of the problems of incessant delay in the criminal justice system. This article uses the doctrinal research methodology in gathering information’s and observes the need to look holistically at the issue of poor draftsmanship while provisions that runs counter to the Constitution should be addressed. The article recommended amongst others that the provisions relating to expeditious legal advice from the office of the Attorney General of Sokoto State and prohibition against lay prosecutions cannot be effective if the manpower at the Ministry of Justice is not improved upon and the welfare of the lawyers at the said Ministry is not taken care of. Barring the above, it is a new dawn for Sokoto State in the administration of Criminal Justice.

Race, Legal Representation, and Lawyer Ethics

Today, despite the progress of post-war civil rights movements and recent criminal justice reform campaigns, the legacy of racial bias endures inside American courtrooms across the nation. This legacy is seen in antebellum portraits of minorities (particularly Blacks) on courthouse wall murals and lineups of shackled juvenile prisoners, and heard in the racially charged trial remarks of prosecutors, the noxious opinions of criminal defense expert witnesses, and the prejudicial statements of deliberating jurors. Unexpectedly, that legacy of bias also persists inside civil rights law firms, legal aid bureaus, and prosecutor and defender offices. Given the pervasiveness of race in American law, we know surprisingly little about the variegated form, substantive meaning, and individual and collective impact of racial bias in legal representation, especially in the public law fields of civil rights, criminal justice, and poverty law. For many years, I have worked and written in these same fields, incorporating research on the lawyering process, ethics regulation, and legal education into classroom teaching and community-based, antipoverty advocacy. The bulk of that prior writing critically maps the late twentieth century landscape of race and representation in American civil and criminal justice systems, searching out pathways of implicit and explicit bias. The purpose of this chapter is to revisit and extend this body of writing to contemporary civil rights, criminal justice, and poverty law practice, particularly the dilemmas that practitioners face in prosecuting, defending, and advancing the rights of indigent minorities. The goal in doing so is to better understand why and how prosecutors and defenders as well as civil rights and legal aid lawyers knowingly appeal to racial bias in their advocacy or engage in advocacy that ethics regulatory regimes like American Bar Association (ABA) rules and standards deem prejudicial to the administration of justice, for example, conduct that disparages, humiliates, or discriminates against litigants, victims, jurors, witnesses, or other lawyers. More broadly, the goal of this chapter is to understand how a diverse group of public interest lawyers — antipoverty and civil rights advocates, prosecutors, and defenders — see, hear, and talk about race, notably the race and racial identity of indigent minority communities embodied in the day-to-day, sociolegal experiences of clients, accused offenders, and victims. What visual images and stock stories of race, for instance, do public interest lawyers employ in performing the functions of an advocate for the impoverished? What are the past and present sources of those images and stories? How do such images and stories construct the culture, social history, and identity of minorities? When do those images and stories engender racial bias and prejudice toward individuals, groups, and communities? Where do those images and stories predominate — courthouses, jury rooms, law offices? And who do they impact and harm — lone clients and offenders, neighborhood groups, whole communities? Last, why do ethics regimes like ABA rules and state bar codes permit lawyers to use such images and stories in their advocacy in spite of the palpable harm to individual, group, and community racial identity? To pursue these interwoven lines of inquiry, the chapter proceeds in three parts. Part I examines the representation of race and poverty under a standard conception of the public interest lawyering process dominated by race talk and racial pragmatism. Part II considers the work of civil rights and poverty lawyers against this standard conception. Part III assesses the work of prosecutors and defenders against the same conception.

The Operations/Applications of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law in Edo State

Various states in Nigeria have passed the Administration of criminal justice bill into law. Lagos state is the first followed by Anambra state. Other states include Ekiti, Ondo, Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Kaduna, Jigawa, and recently Edo State. The Administration of Criminal Justice Law of the states repeals the Criminal Procedure Laws hitherto operational in those states, whereas the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 which was enacted in 2015 repeals the Criminal Procedure Act, 2010 and the Administration of Justice Commission Act, 2010. The aim and purpose of these enactment is the speedy dispensation of justice whereby both the suspect or defendant and the victim of crime are all treated fairly under the law. The law has also make provisions on how the police should take down statement from the suspect and the ways and methods to treat suspect under their custody. This paper examined the innovation brought by the new law and also identifies the gaps that were present in the old law and how those gaps were adequately filled by the new law. It recommended that a lots still need to be done for the smooth application of the new law. Keywords : criminal justice, operation, application. DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/94-17 Publication date: February 29 th 2020

К ВОПРОСУ О СОДЕРЖАНИИ ПРИНЦИПА СПРАВЕДЛИВОСТИ В УГОЛОВНОМ ПРАВЕ

К ВОПРОСУ О СОДЕРЖАНИИ ПРИНЦИПА СПРАВЕДЛИВОСТИ В УГОЛОВНОМ ПРАВЕ

Meeting the Need for a Technologically Driven Justice Delivery System: The Elixir of Rights and Judicial Expediency

The quality of justice is found in its efficacy while the promptness of justice determines its effect. Hence, the aphorism, “justice delayed is justice denied”. It is well known fact that the justice system in Nigeria, like many developing countries, is like igniting a snail on a hundred-kilometer journey. The problem of delay in justice is compounded in an unforeseen period like the world’s current state of the Coronavirus pandemic. By virtue of the national lock-down, the justice system has been on a halt and as such, every aspect of life which is tied to a virile judicial system is also affected. The aim of this paper therefore, is an attempt to analyse how technology can be employed for an effective justice delivery system while the pandemic situation persists. This exercise begins with an examination of the legal provisions available in Nigerian law to meet the demands for a technological-driven effective justice system. This is done by analysing the various provisions of the Evidence Act, High Courts Civil Procedure Rules, Administration of Criminal Justice Laws of States, Courts’ Practice Directions and other relevant provisions. Hence, the thrust of this paper is to elicit palpable elixirs aimed to achieve the decongestion of courts and improve access both during emergencies such as the COVID-19 situation and in the normal course of justice delivery thereafter.

Bail and Bail Processes Under the Plateau State Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJI), 2018

This paper is on bail and bail processes under the Plateau State Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL), 2018. Bail is a constitutional right of a Defendant or Suspect that is solely at the discretion of the Court or any authorised agency. The ACJL has novel provisions against the backdrop of the provisions of the repealed Criminal Procedure Code (Applicable to Plateau State), which provisions Defendants and Suspects took advantage of to jump bail thereby halting or prolonging criminal prosecution. The paper considered the provisions of the new law, as well as bail pending appeal available to a convict or Appellant with recommendations on the need for the Chief Judge to make the Regulation for the registration of Bonds Persons among others.

Problem-Solving Justice in Criminal Law in Poland

The problem-solving approach is not explicitly present in the Polish justice system. Various provisions required to implement it are dispersed throughout the system of law, but they are heavily underused and do not form a comprehensive system. To date, there have been virtually no efforts to concentrate resources, develop cross-sectoral partnerships and provide solutions tailored to special groups of court users; features that are hallmarks of problem-solving justice in other jurisdictions. Low and decreasing levels of crime remove pressure from legislators to seek innovative solutions. Somewhat paradoxically, given the decline of crime, the current government has been pursuing a rather restrictive sentencing policy. Nevertheless, recent reforms – of the Criminal Code in 2015, and a new 2016 law on alternative dispute resolution – promise to finally boost mediation and other problem-solving measures.

Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015: Pathway to A Reformed Criminal Justice System in Nigeria

Since the laws regulating crime touch upon the important areas of social life, legal systems have continued to imbibe best practises to regulate crimes within their jurisdictions in order to encourage development and ensure progress. Thus, a good criminal justice system ensures that effective laws are put in place to fit growing societal demands which are never static. Nigeria, in regulating criminal proceedings, had relied on obsolete laws existing since the colonial and post-colonial eras to 2015 when the Administration of Criminal Justice Act was enacted to fit the growing demands of the Nigerian society. This research uses the doctrinal method to appraise certain innovations of the Act and show how they can reform the criminal justice system in the country to align with best practices around the world. Even though the enactment of the Act is a welcome development, its application is limited only to federal courts (except a court martial) and courts within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Whereas the laudable innovative provisions are highly commendable they can only be effectively applied if they are well implemented. Hence the need for government to effectively fund the criminal justice sector with appropriate manpower, resources and structures and the need for all the states within the country to enact their own Administration of Criminal Justice Laws to apply uniformly in the country.

Emerging disclosure regime in criminal proceedings in Nigeria

This article reviews the emerging disclosure regime in criminal proceedings in Nigeria and its future prospects. Until recently the Laws governing the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria contain very little provisions governing disclosure in criminal proce­edings. The recent reform of the Administration of Criminal Justice Laws in Nigeria have also not addressed the need to provide adequate rules governing disclosure in criminal proceedings. The paper exa­mines the provisions on disclosure obligations in criminal trials in Practice Directions of two Courts exercising criminal jurisdiction in Nigeria. The examination reveals that the provisions of the Practice Directions are designed to address case management issues and not specifically to regulate disclosure obligations of the prosecution and defence. The article charts the direction that the regulation of dis­closure obligations in criminal proceedings in Nigeria should follow.

Advancing of Restorative Justice in Criminal Law in India and Germany: A Comparative Study

The need for alternative dispute resolution and its importance is not a new discovery. Various kinds of informal agreements existed throughout the world when Alternative Dispute Resolution was not legally recognized as such. It first, however, was employed only in civil cases, and criminal justice system was exempted from it. The state undertook the responsibility to impose sanctions (which is very much the case even now) in criminal matters and the idea of informal settlement in these cases arrived much later globally. This article seeks to put some light on two systems, that is, India’s accusatorial system and Germany’s inquisitorial system of trial, and how both the countries have gradually come up with alternative dispute resolution techniques, with the primary focus being the victim–offender mediation programmes (VOMPs) and plea bargaining. The article shall give an overview of the guiding principle behind these programmes, that is, restorative justice and further trace the historical development and the present situation in both the countries. This is a comparative analysis which shall put forth the best out of both and give suggestions to improve the existing situation, while taking learning lessons from both the countries.

MODELS OF ARTICLE SANCTIONS OF THE SPECIAL PART OF CODIFIED CRIMINAL LAW FOR MINOR OFFENCE CRIMES: MODERN LAW-TECNICAL THEORY AND LEGISLATIVE PRACTICE

Possible models of article sanctions of the special part of codified criminal law for minor offence crimes w are presented. Sanctions prescribing one main punishment are single. Sanctions prescribing several main punishments are alternative. Single sanctions can theoretically have 3 types: single sanction with imprisonment; single sanction without imprisonment with more lenient punishment; single sanction without imprisonment with more strict punishment. Alternative sanctions can be subdivided on alternative sanction with imprisonment and lowering alternative; alternative sanction with imprisonment and raising alternative. According to principle of criminal law justice crimes of various category should have various sanction models with different qualitative characteristics. On the basis of this adoption, analysis of modern legislative practice and provisions of criminal and legal doctrine recommendations about crime sanctions for minor offence are formulated. According to these recommendations minor offence crimes can be single and have more lenient punishments than imprisonment or alternative without imprisonment with the lowering alternative or with imprisonment and the lowering alternative. At the same time it is necessary to say that single sanction can include only universal type of punishment. Thus, penalty can be used for single sanctions designing of minor offence crimes.

Investigation of Turkey's Provinces by Sexual Crimes

Sexual offenses are one of the most important indicators of social justice in criminal law. In this context, for the purpose of the investigative purpose, the court is punishing the freedom by the court and producing statistics about the convicted index calculated according to the cases with the persons in the sentenced status in all the penal execution institutions affiliated to the Ministry of Justice between 2010 and 2015. According to the results of this analysis, the proinces were collected in 5 clusters. Most of the provinces has been placed at fırst cluster. Analysis results were supported by Dendogram and Algomerative chart. According to the squared Euclidean distance used as distance in the analysis, the most similar illusions and the least similar ones were determined.

More Stormy Weather or Sunny Ways? A Forecast for Change by Prisoners of the Canadian Carceral State

Upon being elected, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (2015) mandated the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Jody Wilson Raybould to review criminal justice laws, policies and practices enacted during the 2006-2015 period where successive Conservative federal governments were in power. Recognizing that the knowledge produced by prisoners, particularly when brought together with academic arguments, can serve to enlighten public discourse about the current state of carceral institutions, the Journal of Prisoners on Prisons undertook a Canada-wide consultation with federal prisoners with regard to what changes have occurred in the institutions where they have served time in the last decade. This paper, which summarizes that consultation, begins with an overview of the Conservative punishment agenda, followed with a thematic review of how these changes have affected prisoners and what they would like to see moving forward in the context of the governments promised review of the Canadian criminal justice system. Representing the captive from every region of the country at all security levels and privileging the voices of Women, Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ, and Elderly prisoners, the ten most prevalent areas of concern and reform that emerged include: sentencing, mental health, health care, food, prisoner pay, old age security, education and vocational training, case management and staff culture, parole and conditional release conditions, and pardons.

University and Community Resources for Sexual Assault Survivors: Familiarity With and Use of Services Among College Students

ABSTRACTScholars have highlighted the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses. Universities are generally equipped to address victimization through a range of resources, including counseling and psychological services. These resources are instrumental for posttrauma recovery, but students must be aware of and willing to use available services. This study used a sample of 505 survey responses collected at a mid-sized, public, Southern university regarding community and campus resource knowledge, familiarity, and service use. The majority of participants were unaware of resources. Females reported increased community resource familiarity compared to males. Multivariate models revealed distress disclosure, sexual victimization history, and race were significant predictors of service use but criminal justice major and law enforcement career plans were not significant. Implications are discussed.

Unreasonable Disagreement?: Judicial-Executive Exchanges about Charter Reasonableness in the Harper Era

Assessments of “reasonableness” are central to adjudicating claims under several Charter rights and the section one “reasonable limits” clause. By comparing Supreme Court of Canada rulings to facta submitted by the Attorney General of Canada to the Court, this article examines the federal government’s success under Prime Minister Harper at persuading the Supreme Court of Canada that its Charter infringements in the area of criminal justice policy are reasonable, and when they fail to do so, on what grounds. The evidence reveals that the Conservative government adopted a consistently defensive posture in court, never conceding that a law was unreasonable, and that this government was almost never able to defend an impugned criminal justice law under s.1. While several of these losses concerned pre-Harper era laws, the Court did reject several Conservative criminal justice policies, most notably some mandatory minimum sentencing laws. The article’s novel systematic analysis also shows that the Court sometimes rejected the federal government’s characterization of the legislative objective.

From e-Mediation to On-line Restorative Justice in Criminal Law

One of the fields in which conflict mediation is developing is on the Internet where it will, no doubt, become one more tool used to resolve conflict, regardless of the nature of the dispute, whether internet related or not. The legal framework in Spain allows us to clearly differentiate On-Line Mediation from other online dispute resolution (ODR) methods. This article reviews the state of on-line mediation, and further defines what is meant by electronic mediation and also proposes certain parameters for the On-line Restorative Justice Process.

Assessing the developing knowledge-base of product counterfeiting: a content analysis of four decades of research

Considering the steady and rapid growth of product counterfeiting and the damage it causes to society, it is important for criminology and criminal justice scholars to assist criminal justice officials, industry practitioners, and law makers in understanding the product counterfeiting problem and developing strategies to combat it. However, for researchers to be effective in their advisory role they must first establish what is known about product counterfeiting. As a first step in this process, we investigated relevant published research through a content analysis of 47 articles discussing product counterfeiting published in criminal justice and criminology journals through 2014. We analyzed various characteristics about the articles themselves, their authors, the journals they appeared in, and the nature and extent of their focus on product counterfeiting. We conclude this study with an evaluation of the state of product counterfeiting research and recommendations for future research.

Некоторые проблемные аспекты принципа справедливости в российском уголовном праве

Некоторые проблемные аспекты принципа справедливости в российском уголовном праве

Legal Treatment of Honour Crimes: Comparison Between Iraqi National and the Kurdistan Region’s Laws

The article discusses the legal treatment of honour crimes in Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. It examines the judicial context in Kurdistan Region, focussing on the criminal justice system and law implementation mechanisms in relation to honour-based violence in general and honour killings in particular. The article draws on several years’ research into honour crimes in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, including an investigation into honour-based violence led by the University of Bristol between 2008–2010. The research involved 131 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders addressing honour crimes, including legal professionals, MPs, prosecutors, police officers, victims, women’s rights activists, government officials and members of national and international agencies, including unami and undp. The article will look at different sets of legal remedies for honour crimes along with the attempts and the challenges involved in establishing justice for women in the region torn by years of war, internal conflicts and the rise of radical ideologies in the form of political Islam.