Criminal justice system: Still a long road to restorative justice

The application of basic principles of justice for the benefit of victims of crime is fast becoming the norm globally, but Nigeria doesn’t seem to be enamoured by this development. YETUNDE AYOBAMI OJO reports that even though a few laws contain this noble idea, its implementation has remained a challenge.

It is a fact that the criminal justice system in Nigeria hardly meets the needs of the victims, offenders, and the wider community, but tends to focus largely on applying the law, establishing guilt, administering punishment as deterrence, as well as, an attempt to rehabilitate offenders to avoid recidivism.

In sum, the Nigerian justice system is concerned with retribution and punishing the offender and also concentrates more on the crime itself, rather than the people involved, which is often not in the best interests of the victim, the offender, or society in general.

The conventional criminal justice system provides limited scope for the relevant parties to engage in dialogue to restore respect and trust. It further pays scant attention to the needs of victims.

There are also cases where wrongly charged persons have spent years in correctional facilities. Except human rights lawyers and sundry individuals working within the criminal justice system intervene and call for the files of these unjustly incarcerated persons, their cases hardly receive judicial review kick-started by the state. 

Unfortunately, when these victims of the state are eventually discharged and acquitted, the government has nothing in place to atone for the injustice meted to them via the many wasted years. They are left to savor the air of freedom in stoic indifference and carrying on their minds, an everlasting psychological scar.  

To address this anomaly, in May 2015, former President, Goodluck Jonathan, signed into law, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJ Act) 2015. This Act was put together in consideration of the provisions of the two principal criminal procedure legislations: the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA), which applied to the southern states, and the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) applicable to the northern states. It was done to create an encompassing legislation for the entire country. 

The Act in Section 1 states that its purpose is to ensure that the system of administration of criminal justice in Nigeria promotes efficient management of criminal justice institutions, speedy dispensation of justice, protection of the society from crime, protection of the rights and interests of the suspect, the defendant, and the victim.

Even though the Act makes copious provisions for victims’ remedy, it doesn’t provide a sufficient framework for restorative justice and is not, on its own, adequate to ensure full implementation.

Restorative justice is a non-custodial measure of achieving positive results in which the rehabilitation and reintegration of the offender into the community is as important as finding a remedy for the victim and the community, who have suffered the direct consequences of the crime. The use of punishment and imprisonment is jettisoned; instead, alternatives to imprisonment like probation, plea bargain, restitution, compensation, restoration, and rehabilitation are embraced.  

That said, several factors are responsible for all these not being implemented. They include a lack of specific legislative provisions of funding; public attitudes and inadequate awareness; cooperation between providers, and trust in the process. 

Until all these are dealt with to give room for quality and accessibility of restorative justice services, the rights of victims of crime may continually be trampled upon and likely to increase the crime rate.

Although there are numerous ways to promote and widen the use of restorative justice in public and social life, there is a need to introduce practice standards relating to the use of restorative justice.

It is high time the National Assembly promulgated best practice guidance for restorative justice. There is also a need to set out guiding values, principles, and standards for the use of restorative justice in a criminal process of considerable importance. In addition, the development of a specific and standard restorative justice process for family and sexual violence cases is imperative.

Interestingly, Section 314 of the ACJA 2015 stipulates compensation for victims of crime, just as the court has the power to award to a victim, commensurate compensation during its judgment.

Similarly, Section 14 (2) of the Economic and Financial Crime Commissions (EFCC) Act 2004 provides a variant of restorative justice, which promotes victim/offender mediation. Its provision, which enables the victim of crime to decide to settle his dispute with the offender without necessarily having to go through the judicial process to obtain his remedy, is commendable.
 
In fact, Section 14(2) of the EFCC Act allows the Commission to compound offences under the Act. 

During a recent summit, a judge of Lagos State High Court, Justice Rahman Oshodi, pointed out that the state has made notable progress in addressing some challenges in the criminal justice system through various reform initiatives. 

He said that the introduction of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) in 2007, and its subsequent amendments, was aimed at streamlining criminal proceedings to reduce delays and protect defendants’ rights.
 
“The establishment of specialised courts, such as the Sexual Offences Court, and the Special Offences Court, has helped to improve the handling of complex and sensitive cases,” he said.   

He noted that promoting plea bargains and adopting restorative justice have also contributed to decongesting courts and correctional facilities.

“Plea bargain has become firmly entrenched in Nigeria’s criminal justice system through amendments to various Administration of Criminal Justice Laws in different states. This mechanism is used to expedite the resolution of criminal cases, and reduce the backlog of trials in the courts,” he stated.

He explained that sections 75 and 77 of the ACJL and Article 6 of the Practice Direction under the ACJL outlined the plea bargain protocol, which includes ensuring that the defendant understands the agreement, allowing the prosecution to conduct a review of facts, and prohibiting the presiding judge or magistrate from participating in the plea bargain negotiation. 

While clarifying that the law also provides for victim participation and allows the court to consider each case on its merit, serving as a mechanism to check abuse, Oshodi further noted that Lagos State has demonstrated a solid commitment to implementing alternatives to incarceration, focusing on restorative justice as a critical component of its criminal justice reform efforts. 

According to him, Section 347 of the ACJL 2021 affirms restorative justice as one of its objectives and adopts rehabilitation and restoration of the offender as guiding principles for imposing punishment.

“Restorative justice is an approach to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) that focuses on repairing the harm caused by the offense rather than simply punishing the offender. In criminal justice, restorative justice can be employed in minor cases where the parties are willing to negotiate, mediate, or reconcile. 

“The Lagos State Ministry of Justice has a Restorative Justice Unit that facilitates this process, ensuring that suitable cases are diverted from formal trial processes and that offenders can take responsibility for their actions and make amends. 

“Restorative justice can help reduce the burden of courts, provide a more flexible approach to justice, and promote healing and reintegration. The unit can invite the parties to a restorative justice meeting when issuing legal advice. 

“Even after issuing legal advice and filing of information, either party may suggest it. The judge or magistrate may even refer the parties for restorative justice. It, however, does not apply to sexual and other serious crimes,” the judge stated.

For Dr Yemi Omodele, the Nigerian restorative justice system is mere paperwork, even as he noted that defendants have also turned plea bargains into a conduit pipe to evade justice.

He said: “In Nigeria’s criminal justice system, restorative justice is mere paperwork, which has not been fully or partially implemented. Since the initiative, what has been restored? The issue goes beyond the pages of newspapers. It requires action. The criminal justice system must be seen to be working. The courts should be firm and make clear pronouncements on it. 

“There should be quick determination of criminal cases. The era of delay of cases can be done away with. Therefore, delay in the administration of criminal justice and lack of clear pronouncements being made results in backwardness of restorative justice,” he said. 

Omodele continued: “As to plea bargain, it is a way of reconsidering the defendants, but some of the defendants have abused it. They have turned it into a conduit pipe to escape justice. This happens when a defendant whose trial has started discovers halfway, or at the end of the prosecution’s case that he would be found guilty, and suddenly applies for a plea bargain. 

“This ought not to be so. A plea bargain should be immediately plea is taken, not years after it, or when the trial is almost concluded. Hence, a plea bargain is not friendly with restorative justice.”