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Criminal Law
From arrest to arraignment to trial, the ACJA 2015 sets out the procedure federal criminal cases follow — and many states have enacted administration of criminal justice laws along the same lines.
Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015
Our explanation, written for a general reader. It is not the text of the law.
The ACJA 2015 was enacted to make criminal procedure faster, more humane and more accountable. Its themes recur throughout: an arrest should be recorded, a suspect should know why they are held, and a case should not drift indefinitely.
A criminal case moves in recognisable stages. A person is arrested and a record is made. A charge is filed. The person is arraigned and takes a plea. If the plea is not guilty the matter goes to trial, evidence is called, and the court decides. Bail questions arise early and can be revisited.
States legislate their own criminal procedure for state offences, and many have adopted administration of criminal justice laws modelled on the federal Act. Which law governs your matter depends on the offence and the court — exactly the sort of question to put to a lawyer.
Where the official text lives, beside what it means in ordinary language.
Official text
Humane treatment on arrest
Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 — arrest provisions
Plain language — our explanation
The Act carries the constitutional standard into everyday procedure: a person under arrest is to be treated humanely and not subjected to torture or degrading treatment.
Official text
Recording of arrests
Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 — records of arrest
Plain language — our explanation
Arrests are to be recorded. That record is what later makes it possible to establish when a person was taken and where they were held.
Official text
Day-to-day trial
Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 — conduct of trial
Plain language — our explanation
The Act pushes towards continuous hearing of cases and limits the pattern of repeated adjournments that once allowed trials to run for years.
In real life
A person is arrested on a Friday evening.
The constitutional time limits for producing a person before a court, and the Act's provisions on records and treatment, are the framework a lawyer works within from that hour.
In real life
A trial has been adjourned repeatedly over two years.
Delay is what the Act sets out to reduce, and the fair-hearing guarantee speaks of a hearing within a reasonable time.
What you should do
What you should not do
“Being charged means being guilty.”
The Constitution guarantees the presumption of innocence until guilt is proved. A charge is an allegation to be tried.
“Bail always has to be paid for.”
Bail is a conditional release ordered by an authorised officer or a court. Conditions vary; treating it as a purchase misunderstands it.
What this instrument was, what changed, and what is in force now. Superseded versions are kept on the record rather than deleted.
What changed
This is why a general statement about criminal procedure in Nigeria can be right in one state and wrong in another.
What changed
Most of what is modern in Nigerian criminal procedure — and most of what a person in custody can point to — comes from this Act.
What changed
When to speak to a lawyer