Justice Auta calls for jail term for corrupt officials

(Nigeria)  Justice Ibrahim Auta, the Chief Judge of Federal High Court, on Tuesday advocated severe punishment for corruption-related offences in the country. Auta said in Abuja that corrupt persons should not have any option of fine to serve as deterrent in the dispensation of justice. He canvassed the punishment at a one-day public hearing on ``the Administration of Criminal Justice Bill 2013'', organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Justice. The bill seeks to strengthen the administration of justice system in the country. According to him, incidences of corruption will be reduced if offenders were jailed without option of fines. ``When penalities are stiffened, the incidence of commission naturally comes down, but when they are relaxed, the opposite is the case. Corruption related offences should not have any option of fine. Most of us still remember the hue and cry that greeted the discretion a judge recently exercised in favour of imposing a fine of N750,000 on a culprit, who had allegedly stole money running into billions. ``To most Nigerians that sounded like a slap on the wrist, but if there were no option of fine, at least seeing the offender cooling off in prison would have somewhat psychologically therapeutic," he said. Auta said that if corruption was not checked, it would impede the effective administration of criminal justice in Nigeria. ``Corruption is the only reason that can explain the snail's speed at which the administration of criminal justice is moving in Nigeria and if it is not checked, it will be curtains for judicial growth in Nigeria." Speaker Aminu Tambuwal said that as a country, we needed to pay more attention to our laws, particularly those pertaining to the system of criminal justice administration. Tambuwal said that there was a need to develop plans and programmes for creating sound laws and procedural systems consistent with the commitment of the House's legislative agenda. ``As we develop plans and strategies for the economic and other forms of reforms, we also need to develop plans and programmes for creating sound laws and procedural systems consistent with our commitment with our Legislative Agenda. He gave the assurance that the House was determined to pass the bill into law. ``The House of Representatives is determined to pass this Bill into law and would therefore eagerly await the outcome of the Public Hearing.  There is no gainsaying that our criminal procedure has remained largely old and unresponsive to the demands of the populace for equity, substantial justice and human rights. ``The absence of effective and timely procedures for curbing criminal behaviours discourages investors from taking the risk of investing their resources in an economy such as ours where such investments are seriously needed. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam Alooma Muktar, represented by Justice Kumai Akkas, noted that problems mitigating against the procurement of justice in Nigeria were multifarious and multi-dimensional. According to her, they ranged from too many cases in courts to delay in trials, denial of justice, inadequacy of judicial personnel and corruption. Earlier, the Chairman, House Committee on Justice, Rep. Ahmad Ali (PDP-Kwara), said the bill went through much scrutiny, and administration contains several innovative and creative ideas. ``When passed, the bill will significantly improve our Criminal Justice system," he said. Ali explained further that the bill dealt fundamentally with the problem of delay in the dispensation of criminal justice.