Ochendo: An African Journal of Innovative Studies

The Administration of Criminal Justice Act was enacted in Nigeria in 2015 to reform criminal justice delivery. Criminal Justice resorts to the incarceration of wrongdoers upon conviction. The society after the completion of the process of convicting and sentencing within the criminal justice delivery system is faced with the challenge of what to do with the offender(s) adjudged guilty by court of competent jurisdiction. During the pre-colonial days, convicted offenders were treated informally by means of various psychological and physical punishments. At a point, physical punishment became more severe, humiliating and degrading, reformers decided that corporal punishment should be replaced with confinement or imprisonment. In Nigeria, as in most developing countries the most pronounced, most visible and most common sentence resorted to is imprisonment. Unfortunately, the Nigeria Correctional Service has failed to measure up to the international minimum standards, hence the timely choice to examine the problems of Administration of Criminal Justice Act in Nigeria with a view to making case for reforms. It is still a problem that despite the enactment of the well detailed Administration of Criminal Justice Act in Nigeria for up to a decade, yet its enforceability has not gotten the desired results. This Study adopted the Doctrinal/ Library-based Qualitative research method by analyzing the Primary sources such as the ACJA 2015, Correctional Service Act 2019, Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, the Police Act, Criminal Code, Penal Code and other Case Laws, we also relied on Secondary sources such as the textbooks, journals and journal articles; the research deployed the analytical and critical approach to examine the roles of the diverse key stakeholders in the administration of justice. This study finds that it is a need for States that have not domesticated the Administration of Criminal Justice Act to speed up the legislative process. Findings were also made on the failure of agencies like the Nigeria Police Force; the Ministry of Justice; Legal Practitioners; the Judiciary; as well as the legislature and executive to live up to expectation in terms of their various roles in administration of criminal justice in Nigeria.

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