The Rivers Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Council (ACJMC) has renewed calls for the adoption of restorative justice and non-custodial sentencing.

The executive secretary of the council, Chief Magistrate Ilanye Brown, made the call on Thursday in Port Harcourt.

She said the measures were vital to reducing prison congestion and speeding up the criminal justice process.

Ms Brown said persistent overcrowding in correctional centres was fuelled by the growing practice of criminalising civil disputes that should ordinarily be resolved through the civil courts.

“Many people criminalise civil matters. Instead of filing a civil action, they hand the matter over to the police, and when nothing comes out of it, the case is taken to court and later abandoned,” Ms Brown said.

She explained that employer-employee disputes and other civil disagreements frequently entered the criminal justice system, where suspects were detained and prosecuted before complainants eventually abandoned the cases.

Ms Brown warned that this trend leaves many accused persons in prolonged detention, while abandoned cases continue to clog the courts and worsen congestion in custodial centres statewide.

“The police should not turn complainants away, but after reviewing a complaint, they should advise where the matter is not criminal and direct the parties to the appropriate civil process,” she said.

The ACJMC boss disclosed that the council was pursuing legal reforms to strengthen restorative justice through reconciliation, victim compensation and community service instead of imprisonment for minor offences.

“If the property cannot be returned, the offender should compensate the victim. In some cases, community service may be more beneficial than imprisonment,” Ms Brown added.

She acknowledged that the proposed reforms had been slowed by the prevailing political environment but remained optimistic that stronger collaboration would improve criminal justice administration.

Ms Brown also revealed that the state was working towards enacting its own correctional law.

She added that the council would hold a training programme on August 5 to expand the use of non-custodial measures and reduce unnecessary admissions to correctional centres.

(NAN)