PLEA BARGAINING IN AN ADMINISTRATIVE STATE

Abstract

Initially, criminal law was preoccupied with private remedy, but as the question of whether and how to prosecute a crime were taken out of the hands of private parties and consolidated in the hands of public officials, public officials began to assert more systematic control over the criminal process, and it has since transformed to a system of public administration. As a result, States have established institutions that deal with crime as a collective problem. This has led to the concept of the ‘Administrative State’ where criminal law is enforced through administrative agencies of the State through which public officials set criminal justice policies. It has been urged that apart from just deserts, criminal law in the administrative state should concern itself more with interventions that optimally promote the rights and interests of members of the society and promote the ideal of social equality. Criminal law in Nigeria is in an administrative State. As a special prosecutorial device, how far has the recently introduced plea-bargaining process in Nigeria facilitated the attainment of the purpose and functions of criminal law in the administrative state, in addition to the egalitarian purpose.