Aims to reduce reliance on custodial sentences, promote rehabilitation and crime prevention, the Lagos State Judiciary on Tuesday presented Non-custodial Sentencing Practice Direction 2025.
The MacArthur Foundation collaborated on this reform with the Lagos judiciary, together with the Development and Advocate Center. Law Hub advocated for a non-custodial sentencing approach to ensure consistent application across Nigeria.
In his address, the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Kazeem Alogba, underscored the importance of uniformity in sentencing, stressing that non-custodial measures have become a necessary societal change.
According to him, the reforms are designed not only to reduce the costs of imprisonment but also to aid the reintegration of offenders into society.
“Non-custodial sentencing has come to stay. It is not just an alternative; it is a permanent change in the administration of justice. What we must now ensure is that judges, agencies, and all stakeholders understand their roles and responsibilities in enforcing it,” he said.
Justice Alogba emphasised that the new practice direction and compendium of guidelines will eliminate inconsistencies, provide judges with clearer guidance, and minimise conflicts among institutions involved in supervising offenders. He added that the timely enforcement of judgments remains critical to maintaining public confidence in the justice system.
Representing the MacArthur Foundation, Senior Programme Officer Yvonne Darkwa-Poku reaffirmed the foundation’s commitment to supporting criminal justice reforms in Nigeria. She commended Lagos State for its leadership role, describing the launch of the guidelines as a significant step in ensuring fairness, reducing prison congestion, and making justice more responsive to society’s needs.
Darkwa-Poku highlighted the foundation’s decades-long involvement in criminal justice reform in Nigeria, noting that its grantees, including civil society groups such as Law Hub, have played a vital role in promoting the adoption and implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) since its passage in 2015.
Representative of Human Right Commission, Mrs Yemisi Akile, said the commission has over 20 years been engaged in prison audits, and congestion has remained a stubborn challenge. “This reform provides a realistic solution, and we welcome it wholeheartedly,” she noted.
In her welcome address at the event, Mrs. Adenike Oluwafemi, who represented the Executive Director of the Law Hub Development and Advocacy Centre, Mr. Osita Okoro, stated that the practice direction was long overdue.
“Nigeria faces the persistent challenge of custodial overcrowding, with our correctional centres holding far more individuals than they were built for,” she said.
“This document is an important tool designed to address this by providing a clear framework for judges to implement non-custodial sentences effectively.
“Since reforms in Lagos State often set the standard for other states, creating this framework here was essential for driving the national implementation of non-custodial sentences.”
Oluwafemi said, “This practice direction is a testament to the power of collaboration. It was developed through extensive consultation and with invaluable input from key stakeholders, including the Judiciary, the Nigerian Police Force, the Ministry of Justice, and the Nigerian Correctional Service.”
Oluwafemi commended the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Kazeem Alogba, for his input. “His visionary leadership and unique insights were crucial to the development of this practice direction, and he has been a dependable partner in our shared goal of criminal justice reform,” Oluwafemi said.
Also present was the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Jimon Olohundare, who was represented by the head of the Command’s Legal Department, Charles Akinrosoye, who acknowledged the impact of non-custodial sentencing on decongesting correctional centres and improving public perception of the judiciary.
Other speakers, including representatives from the Attorney General of Lagos State, Correctional Services, and Civil Society groups, as well as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), highlighted the need for inter-agency cooperation and punctuality in implementing sentencing decisions. They emphasised that only through collaboration and strict adherence to guidelines can non-custodial sentencing realise its intended impact.
