ACCIDENT
ACCIDENT
C.O.P. V. ABDULLAHI (2024) 8 NWLR (PT. 1940) 227 SC ON INGREDIENTS OF DEFENCE OF ACCIDENT AND WHEN WILL AVAIL ACCUSED PERSON For the defence of accident to avail an accused person, he must establish that:- (a)The act was by accident. (b) There was no criminal intention or knowledge. (c)…
ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
The fundamental object (purpose) necessitating the enactment of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, is to ensure that the system of administration of criminal justice in Nigeria promotes efficient management of criminal institutions, speedy dispensation of justice, protection of the society from crime and protection of the rights and…
APPEALS
APPEALS
The issues for determination in a brief of argument though necessarily based on the grounds of appeal are considered to have displaced the grounds of appeal. Hence, the argument in the brief follows the issues for determination and not the grounds of appeal directly. The issues may comprise the substance…
ARMED ROBBERY
ARMED ROBBERY
It is immaterial whether the weapon used for the commission of armed robbery is fake or not. What is material is the feeling of fear that the victim had at seeing the “weapon”. It is the intention of the user, and the manner of its usage to threaten, and the…
ARRAIGNMENT
ARRAIGNMENT
STATE V. ARDO (2025) 13 NWLR (Pt. 2002) 303 ON WHAT IS AN ARRAIGNMENT AND PURPOSE OF Arraignment is a very important initial step in the trial of a person on a criminal offence or criminal charge. It is a critical stage in the criminal justice process where the defendant…
BURDEN OF PROOF
BURDEN OF PROOF
STATE V. ARDO (2025) 13 NWLR (Pt. 2002) 303 ON WHAT IS JOINT TRIAL AND DUTY ON PROSECUTION THEREIN When more than one accused persons are charged for the same offence and arraigned together, it is known as a joint trial. The prosecution is duty bound to establish the ingredients…
CONFESSIONAL STATEMENT
CONFESSIONAL STATEMENT
SAMAILA V. STATE 2 NWLR (PT. 1923) 465 ON TREATMENT OF EVIDENCE OF A WITNESS WHICH CONTRADICTS HIS EXTRA-JUDICIAL STATEMENT Where a witness’ statement to the Police contradicts his evidence in court, the court should regard him as an unreliable witness and discountenance his testimony in court. (Pp. 486-487, paras.…
CONSPIRACY
CONSPIRACY
USMAN V. STATE (2025) 12 NWLR (PT. 2000) 261 ON PROOF OF CONSPIRACY It is a near impossible task for the prosecution to prove conspiracy with hard evidence and mathematical accuracy as to the time and place the conspirators met and agreed to carry out an offence. In the circumstance,…
CONSPIRACY
CONSPIRACY
MUSA V. STATE (2025) 14 NWLR (PT. 2005) 207 ON DEFINITION OF CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY Criminal conspiracy means when two or more persons agree to do or cause to be done an illegal act; or an act which is not illegal by illegal means, such an agreement is called a criminal…
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
OPDC PROPERTIES LTD. V. THE PEOPLE OF LAGOS STATE (2025) 14 NWLR (PT. 2005) 277 ON CREATION OF NIGERIA POLICE FORCE By section 214(1) of the Constitution (as amended), the Nigeria Police Force is created which is known as the Nigeria Police Force, and subject to the provisions of the…
CORROBORATION
CORROBORATION
Corroboration means evidence tendering to confirm, support and strengthen other evidence sought to be corroborated. Corroboration need not consist of direct evidence that the accused person committed the offence or need not amount to a confirmation of the whole account given by the witness, provided that it corroborates the evidence…
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
Section 270(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) states that there shall be a High Court for each State of the Federation. The Constitution only created one High Court for each State of the Federation. While the High Courts of different States are divided…
DUTY ON COURT
DUTY ON COURT
STATE V. ARDO (2025) 13 NWLR (Pt. 2002) 303 ON DUTY ON TRIAL COURT WHERE THERE ARE MORE THAN ONE ACCUSED PERSON Where there are more than one accused person, the trial court should consider the evidence against each of the accused persons separately following this procedure; (a) the court…
EVIDENCE
EVIDENCE
Medical evidence in rape cases is not sine qua non for the conviction an accused person. Even in murder or homicide cases, the tendering or calling of medical evidence is not compulsory. What is required is for the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused person beyond reasonable doubt…
FAIR HEARING
FAIR HEARING
AMEYI SHAYE. V. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE (2025) 10 NWLR (Pt. 1995) 113. On Whether party fully represented in court can complain of lack of fair hearing because of absence of interpreter Where a party is fully and adequately represented by his counsel, he cannot complain that his fundamental right of…
FAIR HEARING
FAIR HEARING
STATE V. ARDO (2025) 13 NWLR (Pt. 2002) 303 ON EFFECT WHERE DEFENDANT NOT PRESENT THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF TRIAL The court cannot try someone without counsel who might be sentenced to death pursuant to section 36(e) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The situation of the 9th accused here…
INTERPRETATION
INTERPRETATION
MUSA V. STATE (2025) 14 NWLR (PT. 2005) 207 ON DEFINITION OF WITCHCRAFT Witchcraft is the use of magic powers, especially evil ones. (P. 246, para. D) MUSA V. STATE (2025) 14 NWLR (PT. 2005) 207 ON DEFINITION OF CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY Criminal conspiracy means when two or more persons agree…
INTERPRETATION OF STATUTES
INTERPRETATION OF STATUTES
The purpose or objective or intendment of a legislative provision that vests a public duty on a public officer for the benefit of any person is to make the execution or performance of the duty mandatory, irrespective of whether it is a permissive or mandatory word that is used to…
INTERPRETER
INTERPRETER
YAKUBU V. STATE (2025) 12 NWLR (PT. 2000) 233 ON EFFECT OF FAILURE OF TRIAL COURT TO RECORD USE OF INTERPRETER IN SUBSEQUENT TRIAL DAYS WHERE RECORDS USE OF AT COMMENCEMENT OF TRIAL It is desirable and a constitutional duty for a trial court to make a full record of…
ISSUES FOR DETERMINATION
ISSUES FOR DETERMINATION
The purpose of raising issues for determination in an appeal is to identify what is in issue in the complaints against specified and identified portions of the judgment appealed against in the grounds of appeal. Just as the grounds of appeal from which they are raised, the issues for determination…
JURISDICTION
JURISDICTION
Section 270(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) states that there shall be a High Court for each State of the Federation. The Constitution only created one High Court for each State of the Federation. While the High Courts of different States are divided…
KIDNAPPING
KIDNAPPING
For the offence of kidnapping, the prosecution is required to prove the following facts beyond reasonable doubt, namely: - (a) that the victim was seized and taken away by the accused person(s); (b) that the victim was taken away against his consent; and (c) that the victim was taken away…
MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE
MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE
ON WHEN A FINDING OR DECISION IS PERVERSE A finding or decision is characterised as perverse where: (a) It runs counter to the pleadings and evidence on record; or (b) the trial court took into account matters which ought not to have been considered; or (c) the trial court turns…
MONEY LAUNDERING
MONEY LAUNDERING
The provision of section 1 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 does not require that the acceptance of the sum must be ‘payment in a transaction’ but rather provides that no person shall make or accept cash payment in excess of the sum N 5,000,000.00 or its equivalent, except…
MURDER
MURDER
To succeed in convicting an offender of murder, the prosecution is required to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the act of the accused which resulted in the death of the deceased fell within the circumstances set forth under section 316 of the Criminal Code which defines the offence of murder.…
NO CASE SUBMISSION
NO CASE SUBMISSION
At the stage of a ruling on a submission of a no case to answer, otherwise known as a no-case submission, which is made by an accused person charged with crime at the close of the evidence adduced by the prosecution, the court is not called upon to embark on…
NOLLE PROSEQUI
NOLLE PROSEQUI
OPDC PROPERTIES LTD. V. THE PEOPLE OF LAGOS STATE (2025) 14 NWLR (PT. 2005) 277 ON POWER OF ATTORNEY GENERAL OF A STATE By virtue of section 211 of the 1999 Constitution, (as amended), the Attorney General of a State shall have power: (a) to institute and undertake criminal proceedings…
PRELIMINARY OBJECTION
PRELIMINARY OBJECTION
AMEH V. THE PEOPLE OF LAGOS STATE (2025) 12 NWLR (PT. 2000) 559 ON PURPOSE OF PRELIMINARY OBJECTION TO AN APPEAL The purpose of a preliminary objection to an appeal is to determine the appeal in limine, thereby dispensing with the need or necessity to go into the merits of…
PROVOCATION
PROVOCATION
Generally, provocation has been described to mean some act or series of acts done by the deceased to the accused which would cause in a reasonable man and did cause in the accused a sudden and temporary loss of self-control, rendering the accused so subject to passion as to make…
PUBLIC FUNCTIONARIES
PUBLIC FUNCTIONARIES
By virtue of sections 15(4) and 17(2) of the ACJA, a duty is imposed on public functionaries (police officers and other officers of any law enforcement agency established by an Act of the National Assembly and this includes the EFCC) to record electronically on retrievable video compact disc or such…
RAPE
RAPE
In the offence of rape, penetration is the most vital and essential ingredient. The degree of penetration or its duration is immaterial. In this case, PW2 gave unchallenged evidence of penetration, and her evidence was corroborated by the evidence of PW1 and PW3. Therefore, the findings of the Court of…
RED PENCIL RULE
RED PENCIL RULE
BAWA DADA & ORS V TANKO YANDAYI & ANOR (2025) 8 NWLR (Pt. 1993) 517 ON APPLICATION OF DOCTRINE OF RED PENCIL RULE The doctrine of red pencil rule, which has been assimilated into our corpus juris, grants to the courts, both first instance and appellate, the unbridled licence to…
SELF DEFENCE
SELF DEFENCE
In order to rely on the defence of self-defence, an accused person has to show by evidence that his life was so much endangered by the act of the deceased that the only means of escape from imminent death was to kill the deceased. The defence is not available to…
STARE DECISIS
STARE DECISIS
STATE V. ARDO (2025) 13 NWLR (Pt. 2002) 303 ON WHEN DECISION IN EARLIER CASE CAN BE USED IN A LATER CASE Decisions of court draw their inspiration and strength from the facts which framed the issues for decision and once such decisions are made, they control future judgment in…
TRIAL
TRIAL
There is a difference between when an accused person would recant the voluntariness of his confessional statement, on the ground of either torture, duress or promise from a person in position of authority, and where the accused deny making any confessional statement at all. In the former scenario, the court…