TITLE OF THE ARTICLE: Plea Bargaining – A Judicial Tool for Courts and Prisons Decongestion
AUTHOR:
CHRISTINE O. IKE, LLM (London), Lecturer; Department of Public and Private Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.
ABSTRACT:
This paper aims to review plea bargaining and advocate the use of its merits as a way out of the notoriously lethargic Nigerian criminal justice system where protracted prosecution with its cost implication and low rate of success not to mention outright failures in some cases sometime due to loss of momentum and zeal of prosecuting officers, loss of exhibits and death of witnesses has nearly crippled the administraion of justice. A comparative review of this procedure as practised in United States of America shows that if the proper safeguards are put in place, it will go a long way to help decongest the courts and prisons. The article recommends its adoption as a useful tool in the Nigerian criminal justice system.