The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has called for the implementation of non-custodial measures and sentencing guidelines under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, to reduce the country’s growing number of awaiting trial inmates.

Mr Fagbemi made the call at the two-day workshop on the implementation of non-custodial measures and sentencing guidelines under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, on Monday in Abuja.

The AGF was represented by Leticia Ayoola-Daniels, Director of the Administration of Criminal Justice and Reforms Department/Correctional Unit of the Federal Ministry of Justice.

He also encouraged trial judges to stop remanding minor offenders with dangerous criminals. The minister said this led to them being introduced into a life of crime rather than being reformed. 

Mr Fagbemi stated that non-custodial measures aim to discover viable alternatives to incarceration for offenders.

“The purpose of non-custodial measures is to find effective alternatives to imprisonment for offenders, and this is due to the current global shift in punishing convicts with alternatives to prison terms.

“The trend aims to give the judges and magistrates much latitude and discretion to award befitting and purposeful punishment to convicts aside from the punishment suggested by the statute creating the offence.

“Since the coming into effect of the Practice Direction in 2020, the sentencing landscape has continued to develop rapidly and extensively,” the minister stated.

He said using non-custodial measures has reduced correctional facilities to the bare minimum, in line with section 470(2)(c) of the Administration of Criminal Justice.

“The guidelines provide appropriate standards and measures for the sentencing process in offences against the state, person, or public order for uniformity and fairness in sentencing, which will further strengthen the criminal procedure system.

“The success of any system of criminal justice administration depends on the level of effective implementation of the guidelines by the agencies involved,” said Mr Fagbemi.

He noted that the courts have handed down many more sentencing frameworks to guide the exercise of sentencing discretion in a broadly consistent way.

The minister hoped that the non-custodial measures and sentencing guidelines would be more operational and effectively implemented to achieve the objectives and purposes of the reforms in the criminal sector.

“The Federal Ministry of Justice, as the leading stakeholder in the Justice Administration in Nigeria, will continue to develop appropriate frameworks and measures to overcome the unique challenges in the criminal justice sector and strengthen the application of law to align with international best practices,” he added.

 (NAN)