Stringent bail conditions; an impediment to the administration of Criminal Justice System in Nigeria

Abstract

The law is trite that, grant of bail and the determination of the conditions attached thereof are within the discretion of a trial court. However, the law enjoins the courts to exercise such discretion judiciously and judicially bearing in mind that, the main essence of bail is to ensure the presence of a defendant at his trial. Again, granting bail to a defendant is not an escape from justice but affords a defendant an opportunity to have access to requisite facilities for the preparation of his defence. This position gives credence to the provision of the Section 36(5) of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) which presumes a defendant innocent until the contrary is proved. Strangely, under our criminal justice system the imposition of stringent or excessive bail conditions is gaining momentum on daily basis thereby posing a serious threat to the whole essence of bail. One of the reasons for correctional service centres congestion in Nigeria is attributed to the inability of inmates or defendants to perfect their bail conditions due to the stringent nature of the bail terms. Some inmates even die in custody while waiting to perfect their bail due to the unattainable nature of the bail conditions. The objective of this paper therefore, is to critically analyse the practice of giving onerous or excessive bail conditions by trial courts and its effects on Nigeria’s criminal justice system with a view to make recommendations that will guide the courts in giving liberal bail conditions thereby enhancing quick access to justice by the citizens. The paper adopted doctrinal research methodology using case laws, statutes, journals and internet materials. At the end, the paper recommended proper re-orientation of judicial officers, punishments for judicial rascality and strict implementation of our criminal procedure laws on bail, to ensure that imposition of stringent bail conditions is expunged from our criminal justice system.