LEGAL REGIME FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF A DEFENDANT IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended the rights of defendant in a criminal trial are enshrined majorly in sections 35 and 36 of the constitution which is ground of all laws in the country. Such rights include, the right to be informed promptly in the language the he understands the details and nature of the offence of the accused, the right defend himself in person or by a legal practitioner of his own choice, the right to have an interpreter free of charge if he does not understand the language of the court, the right to have record of proceedings kept and the rights to have copies of this within seven days of the conclusion of the case, the right to remain silent during trial, the right not to be tried and convicted twice for the same offence, the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty, the right to fair hearing and the right not to be charged for an unwritten offence. All these rights are aimed at ensuring that an accused person is not unjustly dealt with. Also the relevant provisions in the Criminal Procedure Act, the Child’s Rights Act and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, Shed more light on the rights of an accused person in criminal trials. In the course of this project a doctrinal approach was adopted in analyzing all the issue discussed in the research work. This Project in its totality is channeled towards making sure that Nigerians are fully aware and informed of their rights especially the accused person and how it could be enforced. This project will not seek to look at the rights generally but most importantly the right of an accused person visa-vis the relevant provisions. The researcher concludes by recommending that the government should create awareness to the public most especially the law enforcement agencies about the rights of an accused as engraved in our constitution and ensure their enforcement so as to protect accused persons in the course of their trial. Based on the introduction of the internet in our world today, awareness should be created through the mass media about the rights of an accused person in a criminal proceeding. ICT gadget should also be employed to helps in the quick dispensation of justice in our justice system, because for a very long-time lack of use of ICT gadgets have caused huge delay in the dispensation of justice in criminal trials and this is an infringement of the rights of a defendant in a criminal proceeding. The Government should dot its best to ensure that our justice system has everything it needs to dispense quickly and correctly.