Regulating Plea Bargaining in Nigeria through Sentencing Guidelines: An Appraisal

ISBN-13: 9786202676922 / Angielski / Miękka / 104 str.

Blessing Chinyere Madu

Opis

Criminal Justice Administration is taking new dimensions worldwide and one of such recent developments is the emergence of plea bargaining. Plea Bargaining entails that the accused pleads guilty to some of the charges constituted against them in return for a lesser punishment. In reaching a sentence in plea bargaining, the judge is required to exercise his discretion in line with stipulated guidelines. Sentencing guidelines are the standards for determining the punishment of a convicted person. This serves as a means of regulating the practice of plea bargaining.There are arguments for and against the adequacy of the above, especially with reference to Nigeria, where there are no comprehensive and elaborate guidelines except for Sections 270 and 311 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act. Against the backdrop of the above expositions, this research is intended to discuss sentencing guidelines as a means of regulating plea bargaining in Nigeria in terms of its adequacy and in comparison with the practice in other jurisdictions.

O autorze

Madu, Blessing Chinyere
Blessing is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. She graduated from the University of Lagos, Nigeria and proceeded to the Nigerian Law School. She is currently an Associate at one of the top tier Law firms in Lagos, Nigeria. She is currently preparing for her Masters of Law at the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada.