Mixed Reactions Trail FG’s Plea Bargain Policy

Abuja-based legal practi
tioners have expressed mixed feelings over the use of Plea Bargain in Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, to resolve high profile criminal cases.
The Black’s Law Dictionary defined plea bargain as a negotiated agreement between a prosecutor and a criminal defendant who pleads guilty to a lesser offence or to one or more multiple charges in exchange for some concession by the prosecutor, usually a more lenient sentence or a dismissal of other charges”.
It is provided for in Section 270 of the new Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
Some of the lawyers told our correspondent in Abuja that the concept would enhance the administration of high profile cases in Nigeria.
The others said that if not handled with caution, plea bargain would promote rather than thwart corruption.
While the proponent said that plea bargain would ensure the recovering of some stolen funds; others argued that more politicians would delve deeply into corruption.
One of the lawyers, Mr Kaase Saidu, said that plea bargain would make high profile matters easier to prosecute because such offences were difficult to investigate.
According to him, plea bargaining is good because it is a pragmatic method of streamlining the justice system.
Moses noted that there were cases where defendants who could not afford strong representation might be bullied into accepting a plea bargain even when they were innocent.
“While such an outcome is possible, we know that innocent defendants, especially those without strong defence counsel, can be convicted in full trials too,” Moses said.
Similarly, Mr Jude Kalejaiye, another lawyer, said that plea bargain was a “necessary evil”.
According to him, without plea bargaining the justice system will become bogged down with defendants waiting a long time to go on trial.
This, he said, would be contrary to the constitutional right to a speedy trial.
“When you enter plea bargaining; instead of taking a case to trial, all parties sit down and agree on a charge and a sentence.
“This impacts the Justice system in several ways: courtrooms and judges are used minimally.
So, also is the time and resources of the prosecutor and defence attorney.
“Since these sentences are lighter, the burden on our prison system is lighter. These are all good things,” Kalejaiye said.
Conversely, Mr Abbas Ndaji, a Court Registrar, said that the trend was unfair to the criminal justice system.
Ndaji said that although without it, courts would be overrun with cases and prisons would be filled to the brim with inmates, yet it was not right.
He said: “when plea bargain started, it is being done for good reasons like where a convict gives up information to solve other crime cases, for a lighter sentence.
“Nowadays, it looks like plea bargain is just being used as a way to save money and not go to trial. This in all realty is not serving justice.
“When criminals get off easy for their crimes it tends to ridicule our criminal justice system.
“Plea bargain is telling people that you can commit crimes and then only be held responsible for a small portion of that crime,” Ndaji said.
Ndaji said that the system should give room for the law to be exercised fully, depending on the circumstances of a case.