THE ‘IRRELEVANCE’ OF MINI TRIALS AND TIMELY OBJECTION TO THE ADMISSIBILITY OF CONFESSIONAL STATEMENTS IN THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE LAWS OF NIGERIA

Abstract

The volume of mini trials in our trial courts of criminal jurisdiction was lamentable. The almost usual findings against suspects after such trials was that their confessions were voluntary. The unfriendly nature of mini trials to quick dispensation of criminal justice beckoned for a change of the legal regime provided for by section 29 of the Evidence Act, 2011. The hunger for a better legal regime found succour in the provisions of section 15(4) and section 17(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 (ACJA). The administration of criminal justice law provisions of states, similar to those of ACJA above, turned out to be ultra vires section 4(2) and (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (CFRN) being legislations on evidence, an exclusive legislative zone of the Federation. This inquiry dug into case law, juristic works in text books and journals, statutory law and came up with the findings that mini criminal trials and the estoppel of objection to the admissibility of extra judicial confessions on appeal are now largely unlawful in the FCT courts and in trials for the violation of federal penal statutory provisions. The work recommended, inter alia, the amendment of section 29 of the Evidence Act, 2011 to encompass the provisions of section 15(4) and 17(2) of ACJA in the light of the courts decisions on their interpretation for the benefit of the larger number of Nigerians that stand criminal trials before states’ courts.