Simplifying Bail Processes in Nigeria -By Douglas Ogbankwa

Bail processes in court in Nigeria are perhaps the most difficult to perfect anywhere in the world. Bail processes occupy a premium place in the administration of the criminal justice system. There is, however, a big snag in the court system, which cuts across all courts in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Firstly, the conditions for bail imposed by judges of courts are sometimes very excessive.

Why should almost every defendant in the court be asked to bring a senior civil servant or a house owner with a Certificate of Occupancy and sometimes both, to the Federal High Court when the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, places a premium on blood relatives to be sureties to defendants, who in the real sense are the ones that can secure the attendance of defendants in court? The case of Col. Sambo Dasuki v. Director General, State Security Service, shows that asking a civil servant to stand as a surety is against the Public Service Rules.

Obnoxious bail conditions encourage professional sureties and costs for the defendants so much that some, who are even victims themselves and could even be innocent, are needlessly sent to prison. Many people have been wallowing in jail because of this avoidable scenario. We call for a change on all the issues highlighted above. Many businesses have been closed due to the needless remand in prison of the business owners. Sometimes you wonder whether the judicial officers even count the cost as a remand of a defendant in prison, which could mean children not going to school for months, hunger in the house of the defendant, business deals being put on hold, women giving birth and not having money to pay their hospital bills because their husbands have been remanded. Our administration of the criminal justice system needs to imbibe practicality in the way it works and should infuse some empathy into its system. I believe every criminal court should have a social welfare officer who adds some empathy to the way the system works. The way the criminal justice system works right now is auto-reverse. Many people have died in prison because of poor health care and sometimes they are even innocent. People should be sent to prison only when it is absolutely necessary. Abroad, getting bail is a matter of course, even for murder. We understand there should be a balance in getting proper documents done so that people will not jump bail. People should go home the same day they are arraigned. For this to happen, we must have more courts and more court registrars.

Another very curious procedure of the Court is to ask the Prosecution to verify the sureties. This is injustice, as it offends the Principle of Nemo Judex In Casua Sua: No Man shall be a Judge in his Own Cause. Why Should the Prosecution who is a Party in a Matter be doing the job of the COURT? This situation defiles logic and law. We implore that Verifications of Sureties from now, should be done by the Court Registry, as some Prosecution uses this window as an opportunity to punish Defendants who are assertive and fight non adherence to due process.

The bail process is a court process. This is even worse, as some prosecuting agencies frustrate the process if a defense lawyer has been too assertive about the rights of the defendant at their station.

When bail is granted at the Federal High Court, that is where the nightmare of the defendant commences. The cumbersome nature of the verification of sureties sometimes takes weeks or even months. The Registry of the Court will write to the employers of the civil servant or the land registry and will await a reply that takes days or weeks, and it goes on and on.

Some of the procedure are even unnecessary and unwieldy. The Defendant wallows in Prison (now called Correctional Centre) and some have even died owing to the deplorable conditions there; which death would have been avoided if we had a system that works.

At the Edo State High Courts for example, a Defendant who has been granted Bail could go home same day, because the Registry activates the process of verification immediately go to the places of verification themselves and write a report there and then which is then attached to the File, after which the Defendant is released after the post verification process. All these usually takes place in one day!

The Cumbersome Bail Process of the Federal High Court throws up a Constitutional Dilemma.

Whether the excessive Bail Conditions mostly imposed by Judges of the Federal High Court and the cumbersome nature of processing same that keeps the Defendant who is a Citizen of Nigeria in Prison (now called Correctional Centre) avoidably, is not a violation of the Right to Liberty, Right to freedom of movement and access to justice of Citizens of Nigeria as Guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of Nigeria, 1999, (As Amended).

The Federal High Court is the major Court that interpretes Fundamental Human rights in Nigeria.

Its modus operandi should be seen to protect Human Rights of Citizens of this Country. A Court that Conducts cases on human rights, should it same show sone humane nature in dealing with Citizens.

Justice delayed is justice denied; justice delayed is justice turned upside down or, simply put, injustice.

We owe it to generations yet unborn to make a change and change is a challenge to the adventurous and a threat to the obscure insecure.

About the author:

Douglas Ogbankwa, Esq., lawyer, Writer and policy analyst, is the convener of the Vanguard for the Independence of the Judiciary (V4IJ).

Source: @BarristerNg