The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), on Monday, demanded that the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015’s sentencing guidelines and non-custodial measures be put into place to lower the nation’s rising number of prisoners awaiting trial.
The AGF also urged trial judges to refrain from remanding minor offenders with serious criminals, which he claimed led to their being inducted into a life of crime rather than being rehabilitated.
He emphasised that the purpose of non-custodial measures for criminals is to find viable alternatives to jail.
In his opening remarks at the two-day workshop on the implementation of the Non-Custodial Measures and Sentencing Guidelines under the ACJA, 2015, the AGF—represented by Mrs. Leticia Ayoola-Daniel, a director at the Federal Ministry of Justice—described sentencing as a fundamental judicial function in criminal justice.
“In discharging that function, the sentencing Judge must strive to achieve the right balance between imposing a merited sentence in the case at hand while maintaining a broad level of consistency with other cases so that sentencing at a systematic level is fair.
“Sentencing guidelines and frameworks are best understood as means to enable the sentencing court to strike that sometimes elusive balance.
“The Administration of Criminal Justice Act was enacted and came into force on May 13, 2015,” he said.
cc: Daily Post Ng
