DISENGAGING LAY POLICE OFFICERS FROM CRIMINAL PROSECUTION FOR A MORE EFFICIENT CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This writer believes that the passage of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015 has brought to an end the use of police officers who are not lawyers in prosecution of offences under the Act. Opinions are however divided on the true state of affairs in this respect. While many believe that the powers of Police officers to prosecute cases has been whittled down by the ACJA, to the extent that only police officers who are qualified as legal practitioners may prosecute offences under the Act, some are of the view that the prosecutorial powers of lay police officers have not been completely taken away. This commentary offers what the writer believes is a fair guide on the limits of prosecutorial powers of police officers under the ACJA, 2015. Recommendations are then made in favour of extending the feat achieved with ACJA to other procedural criminal law statutes and jurisdictions in the country, especially in view of the dangers the writer considers inherent in continued participation of lay police officers` in criminal prosecutions in Nigerian courts. Lastly, there is a word on how progress in this direction could contribute in enthroning a more efficient, efficacious and rewarding system of criminal justice administration in Nigeria.