SCRUTINIZING THE PROSECUTORIAL POWER OF THE NIGERIA POLICE FORCE: A CASE STUDY OF POLICE LAWYERS IN SALARIED EMPLOYMENT

Abstract

This study scrutinized the prosecutorial power of the Nigerian Police Force viz-a-viz the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2023. It argued that Police lawyers in salaried employment, save for those formerly employed as ‘legal officers’ into the legal section/department of the Nigeria Police Force, are prohibited by rule 8 (1) and (2) of the RPC from exercising the prosecutorial power of the Nigeria Police Force under the Police Act of 2023 (as amended) and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of 2015. It further argued that the RPC, though a subsidiary legislation, is applicable to all legal practitioners in Nigeria irrespective of their areas of practice. Accordingly, this study recommended that police lawyers need to be officially employed as legal officers with appropriate entitlements given in order to properly invoke the power to institute criminal proceedings in any court of record on behalf of their employer.