The Police Duty Solicitor Scheme-herein after
referred to as PDSS- established through Order 20 of the Police
Order as amended and the Court’s visitation to detention centers
provided under Section 34 of the Administration of Criminal Justice
Act, 2015-herein after referred to as ACJA- have
become two schemes for effective assurance of justice in the
administration of criminal justice system in Nigeria.
This paper views that these two schemes if focused upon and
diligently undertaken by the actors in the administration of
criminal justice sector and human rights activists, will either
eradicate completely or drastically reduce the case of unlawful
detention in Nigeria by law enforcement agencies, hence, the
recommendation for these schemes to be a focus for human rights
activists.
The PDSS was introduced to Nigeria through Force
Order 20 as amended which mandates the availability
of Pro bono Legal Services by Duty Solicitors Stationed in Police
Formations across Nigeria, thereby ensuring prompt access to
justice for suspects and detained persons. The scheme is the
actualization of the constitutional guarantee of access to Counsel
upon arrest and detention in Nigeria. The PDSS focuses on
protecting the rights of suspects (not defendants as ‘Defendant’ is
properly used to refer to persons arraigned in court and undergoing
trial) at all levels of the pretrial process, arrest,
interrogation, detention and bail. On the
31st of October, 2019, the British Council, in
collaboration with the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria and some other
non-governmental organisations organized a training for Duty
Solicitors. The panelists were Mr Folarin Aluko- NBA Chairman
(Abuja Branch), Mr Clement Chukwuemeka- NBA Chairman (Bwari
Branch), Mr Anugom Ifeanyi- NBA Chairman (Gwagwalada Branch) and Mr
Bayo Akinlade- NBA Chairman (Ikorodu Branch), all in
attendance. At this training, which additionally had
in attendance: officers of the Nigeria Police Force of various low
and high ranks, lawyers of all the three branches in the FCT-Abuja,
legal officers of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, among others.
Trainees were made to understand that the Scheme does not mean that
suspects are clients to the duty solicitors rendering pro-bono
legal services to the suspects rather they the duty solicitors just
to render their free legal services even without knowing the
suspects. However, where suspects require the duty solicitor to
represent them further in courts, then, the duty solicitor should
refer them to another lawyer or to the NBA which the duty solicitor
represents for necessary provision of another lawyer in order to
avoid any conflict of interest. Also, the scheme does not aim to
empower the duty solicitor to intervene in the investigation being
carried out by the police officers on the allegations of crime and
on the suspect. Furthermore, the duty solicitors as lawyers were
made to understand that lawyers and police are friends and
colleagues in the administration of criminal justice system working
towards achieving the same aim i.e. justice, so, must not quarrel
or fight each other. Respect is reciprocal and must be undertaken
at all times in the course of the duty. Furthermore, duty
solicitors were advised to avoid being confrontational with the
hosting police officers, not to have the preconceived mind of
monitoring the activities of the police officers or the police
station but to ensure that the due process of law is followed
especially where statements were to be taken from the suspect to
ensure that same is done in the presence of a duty solicitor
(lawyer); and to boost public confidence in the criminal justice
system; among others. I was also in attendance as a trainee at the
programme. At the end of the programme, volunteering duty
solicitors (including myself), registered their names and chose a
police station convenient to them to perform the duty pro bono. It
was also explained that though, the scheme is free of charge,
nevertheless, the scheme has its own benefits which also has the
overall satisfaction and giving back to the society what the
society had given to the volunteering lawyers as a form of
corporate social responsibility. One thing that I observed was that
trainees were able to express their grievances which had caused
confrontations between some lawyers representing suspects and some
police officers in the past. Then, the cordial relationship between
the lawyers and the police officers was strengthened. Though, views
were shared to encourage the extension of the duty solicitor scheme
to other detention centers of law enforcement agencies apart from
the police station.
Furthermore, section 34 of ACJA,
provides for court’s visit to detention facilities/centers thus:
‘34(1) The Chief Magistrate, or
where there is no Chief Magistrate
within the police division, any
Magistrate designated by the Chief
Judge for that purpose, shall, at
least every month, conduct an inspection of
police stations or other
places of detention within his territorial jurisdiction
other than the prison. (2) During a visit,
the Magistrate may: (a) call for, and inspect,
the record of arrests; (b) direct
the arraignment of a suspect;
(c) where bail has been refused, grant bail to any suspect where
appropriate if the offence for which
the suspect is
held is within the jurisdiction of
the Magistrate.
(3) An officer in charge of a police station or official in charge of an agency
authorised to make an arrest shall make available to the
visiting Chief Magistrate
or designated Magistrate exercising his powers under subsection (1) of
this section: (a) the full record of arrest and
record of bail; (b) applications and
decisions on bail made within the
period; and (c) any
other facility the
Magistrate requires to
exercise his powers under that
subsection. (4) With respect to other
Federal Government agencies authorized
to make an arrests,
the High Court having jurisdiction shall
visit such detention facilities for
the purpose provided in this section.
(5) Where there is default
by an officer in charge of
a police station or official
in charge of an agency authorised to
make arrest to comply with the
provisions of subsection (3) of this section, the
default shall be treated as a misconduct and.. shall be dealt
with in accordance with the relevant
Police Regulation under the Police Act, or
pursuant to any other disciplinary procedure prescribed
by any provision regulating the conduct of the officer
or official of the agency.’. However, there is
limit of the application of the ACJA which has been stated clearly
in section 2 of the Act thus ‘2.(1) Without
prejudice to section 86 of this Act,
the provisions of this Act shall apply to
criminal trials for offences established by
an Act of the National Assembly and other offences punishable
in the Federal Capital Territory,
Abuja.(2) The provisions of this Act shall not
apply to a Court Martial.’ It should also be observed
that the provisions of ACJA does not have a general application
throughout the Federation’ i.e. it is not a State’s Law rather, it
is limited to the application as provided for in section 2 of the
Act, unless each other State adopts its provisions having the
effect as that of section 34 of the Act which is the subject matter
of this paper. Since this legislation, some Magistrates to my
knowledge and the some of the visits which I have attended together
with some of the Magistrates in the FCT-Abuja on behalf of the NBA
as an Association, have taken this Scheme with relentless efforts.
From my experiences, suspects have been allowed to speak and
express themselves as to the various treatments that they have been
receiving in the custody of the police even in the presence of the
police officers in charge and they have been bold enough to dispute
any contrary statements or defence made by some of the police
officers, though, some of those grievances by the suspects were
made as a result of ignorance of the criminal procedures. Suspects
were asked by the Magistrate whether they were cautioned upon
arrest and writing statements and whether they were informed of
their right to counsel of their choice and on the number of meals
given in the station a day. Also, the Magistrate granted those who
deserved bail their bail, those who deserved transfer were
guaranteed the quick transfer of their case file by the police and
the police were to report to the supervising Magistrate within
certain period of hours or days, those whose cases were due for
trial were given date for hearing/trial to appear in the court (and
not in the police station), those who confessed to the crime
alleged and pleaded guilty were summarily convicted and sentenced
by the Magistrate to a liberal sentence. So, the Scheme even though
lasted for some hours, was able to decongest the police cells and
reduced the cases of unlawfully detaining suspects in custody. I
believe that if these two schemes are taken care of with
seriousness, the issue of allegation of arbitrary detention (i.e.
detention without abiding with the due process of law) will either
be eradicated completely or be drastically reduced in no time.
Finally, I encourage lawyers, human rights activists, NBA and
other non-governmental organisations to key into these two schemes
by also providing financial support to those volunteered duty
solicitors. I am aware that the NBA Abuja Branch (under the
Chairmanship of Mr Folarin Aluko), the NBA: Bwari, Gwagwalada and
Ikorodu (Lagos) Branch respectively has Committee for such duty
solicitor scheme. Other branches are encouraged to do so (including
young lawyers) in the interest of justice.
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