ABSTRACT
The Criminal Justice System of any nation is saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that justice is properly, adequately and timeously carried out. Thus, it plays a very vital role in any legal system and a lack of an effective system will lead to a state where justice and fairness will rapidly degenerate. As a result of a rise in criminal activities, it behoves the Justice system to efficiently carry out its duties as stated by law and prosecute criminals speedily while granting some sort of closure to victims of crime. On the other hand, the law provides for various humane treatments for incarcerated offenders- either awaiting trial or serving term, this however is not the present case as the state of the Nigerian prison and their activities is a sore sight. Another issue that cannot be over emphasized is the level of society's passivity in tolerating criminal activities hence the need for a total overhaul and re-orientation/sensitization of the average Nigerian society.
The Justice System through various government institutions functions as the instrument of enforcing a set standard of conduct via laid down laws, necessary for the maintenance of law and order. The Nigerian Criminal Justice System is made up of three components i.e. The Police, The Courts and Prisons, which are vital to the effective running and sustainability of justice in Nigeria.
The notion of Justice, Fairness and Equality of citizens cannot be over emphasized. The popular Latin maxim- Ubi jus ibi remedium, which is regarded as one of the foundation of Justice, emphasizes that the rights of citizens are inalienable and where such rights have been breached, the Justice system must step in to provide a remedy for such breach. However, in light of numerous cases which abound in Nigeria, it is evident that the process of achieving justice is fraught with delay. This is as a result of several circumstances which are present in the criminal justice system which include technicalities in court processes, poor enforcement of laws, corruption etc.
The aim of this paper is to critically examine the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria, paying particular attention to the causes of delay in delivering justice to aggrieved parties. And an examination of the present statutes and case laws, coupled with active cases will enable a recommendation of possible solutions to this problem of delay in administering justice in Nigeria. The issue of congestion in both the minimum and maximum correctional facilities in Nigeria and the effects on the physical and emotional wellbeing of inmates will also be considered as well as various ways and other viable options to curb this persistent issue of overcrowding with particular focus on alternative or non-custodial sentences.
