ABSTRACT
A victim of crime is a person who has suffered an injury, loss or an infraction as a result of the act of another. Victims suffer injury which are not always personal to themselves but most times, to their families when the resultant effect of the offender leads to the victim’s death.
The focus of this long essay is the rights of victims and their place in the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria with regards to compensation borne out of the innovation of Lagos State ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE LAW ACJL, which on October, 2021 gave judges the right to award compensations to victims of crime when the need arises. Though this provision is also found in the ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT ACJA yet, some states are reluctant in signing it into their laws or where possible, incorporating this provision.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) explicitly provides that an accused person should be presumed innocent until pronounced otherwise by a court. The accused in any criminal case seems to be the pivot through which the criminal justice system rotates as they are the main focus in any criminal trial. This ought not to be so as the victim is the one that triggers the criminal justice system. Without the victims who report crimes and ahead to testify in court against the accused person, how can the criminal justice system move forward? This long essay seeks to examine of the Lagos State Administration of Criminal Justice with the provisions of the Lagos State Law which was signed into law on October 2021. Part 32 of the ACJA which deals with costs, compensation, damages and restitution for victims of crime. It also seeks to contrast the provisions of some ACJL obtainable in some states in Nigeria.
