LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF PLEA BARGAIN IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The issue of delay in the administration of criminal  justice has been a deep seated one, premised on the fact that ‘justice,’ is not a one way traffic, it is not even a two way traffic, it is a three way traffic, justice, for the accused,  justice for the victim and justice for the society at large. The search for justice is as old as the existence of man. Society all over the world had at one time or the other, designed models of public justice to attain criminal justice. But a full proof model of criminal justice till date has remained illusory. By no stretch, pragmatic legislators developed the instrument of plea bargain in the attainment of criminal justice. Plea bargain is generally an agreement in a criminal trial in which a prosecutor and an accused person arrange to settle the case against the accused usually in exchange for concession by pleading guilty to the crimes. The paper therefore traced a countervailing consideration behind the articulation by judges, legislators and law reformers in adopting plea bargain in the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria. The doctrinal method of legal research was adopted, which included primary and secondary sources. The research also carried out a comparative analysis of plea bargain in Nigeria and some selected jurisdictions particularly America and proffered suggestions to reinforce and strengthen the legal framework for plea bargain. The author concluded that plea bargain is necessary but there is need to improve its applicability in our criminal justice system particularly in corruption cases as it is applied globally, with particular attention to America. The paper maintained that all states of the federation should adopt plea bargain as provided in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act to strengthen the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria as well as improve administration of criminal justice in-order to reduce delay in the administration of criminal justice and to decongest the criminal courts in Nigeria.