Legal practitioner and human rights activist, Mr. Festus Keyamo, has sent proposals to the National Assembly on how to ensure speedy prosecution of corruption cases in the ongoing constitution amendment exercise. The lawyer’s memorandum was titled ‘Proposal for constitutional amendment to address the delay in criminal trials in Nigeria’.
In his “Proposal”, Keyamo explained that the gesture was informed by the fact that “the delays in the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria, especially corruption-related cases, have become a notorious fact”. He noted that prominent Nigerians, who are facing serious corruption cases, had devised ways of delaying their trials and “At the end of the day, the cases are lost because of the death of witnesses, loss of memory by witnesses, loss of exhibits, loss of interest and zeal by prosecutors and the aggrieved by effluxion of time, and the compromise of witnesses by the accused,” he said.
Mr. Keyamo identified preliminary objections as one of the strategies employed by defence counsel to undermine the prosecution of corruption cases. He therefore canvassed an amendment of the Constitution to provide for a ban on stay of proceedings in corruption trials.
According to him, “It is very clear therefore that what needs to be done is to give constitutional flavor to a provision like section 40 of the EFCC Act which prohibits stay of proceedings in criminal matters… Once such a provision is supreme, no other law can defeat it… It is therefore my proposal that the constitution be amended to include a provision like section 40 of the EFCC Act.
“This section should be inserted after section 248 and should read thus:
“Notwithstanding anything contained in this Constitution, including Chapter IV of this Constitution, any person who exercises any right of appeal under this Constitution in criminal matters shall not be entitled to a stay of proceedings pending the determination of the appeal.”
He also further suggested the introduction of the principle of suspended sentencing in the constitution. He said, “Here the sentencing of the accused, after he is found guilty and convicted may be suspended pending the outcome of any interlocutory appeal… If the appeal succeeds, the charge is quashed but if it fails, the trial court or the Appellate Court may then go on to pronounce the sentence… By so doing, criminal justice is guaranteed.” Keyamo added, “If the National Assembly decides to introduce suspended sentencing, then a proviso should be inserted after the suggested section above prohibiting stay of proceedings.”
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