The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has called for the implementation of non-custodial measures and sentencing guidelines under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
The aim is to reduce the number of awaiting trial inmates in the country. The AGF has urged trial judges to avoid remanding minor offenders with hardened criminals, as this could lead them to a life of crime instead of being reformed. He emphasized that non-custodial measures are meant to provide effective alternatives to imprisonment for offenders.
In an address he presented at the opening session of a two-day workshop on the implementation of the Non-Custodial Measures and Sentencing Guidelines under the ACJA, 2015, the AGF, who was represented by a Director at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Leticia Ayoola-Daniel, described sentencing as a core judicial function in criminal justice.
He said: “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.
“The Act placed premium on non-custodial sentences. In line with ACJA 2015, the Federal Government has set out guidelines to stipulate the requirements and procedure for imposing Non-Custodial sentencing for the purpose of preventing abuse and ensuring reasonable uniformity and fairness in the imposition of sentences.
“In order to facilitate the application and effective use of the non-custodial sentencing, the legal and regulatory framework must be effectively implemented.
“The purpose of non-custodial measures is to find effective alternatives to imprisonment for offenders.
