An Apprasial of Emerging Issues in the Law and Practice Relating to Bail, Bondspersons and Forfeiture of Recognizamnce in Nigeria
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Date
2021
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Law and Courts eJournal
Abstract
A basic constitutional right of a suspect who is being held in the custody or is
arraigned in court on criminal charges, is the right to be admitted to bail, pending the
final determination of the case against him. This right is founded on the accusatorial
criminal justice system, and the constitutional principle that an accused person is
presumed innocent until his guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt in a court of
law. In exceptional circumstances, bail may even be granted also to a person who
has been found guilty of a criminal offence, pending the determination of his
subsisting or proposed appeal. Bail is granted to the accused person either
unconditionally or subject to some conditions usually referred to as the terms of bail, which may include production of surety, sureties or bondspersons, among other
conditions. The terms or conditions of bail are considered necessary for purposes of
guaranteeing the availability of the accused person to face his trial, or until the final
determination of the charge against him. Where an accused person who has been
granted bail upon production of sureties or bondspersons, thereafter jumps bail, there is an obligation on the part of the surety/bondsperson to produce the accused
person; else, the surety may be liable to show cause why the surety should not be
made to forfeit the recognizance the surety entered into as a condition for admitting
the accused person to bail. A lot of controversies and confusions has arisen from the
practice and use of sureties/bondspersons, the abscondment of accused persons, the
practice of revocation of bail and forfeiture of recognizance in Nigeria. This paper is
aimed to explain as well as to examine the law and practice as they relate to grant of bail to suspects in custody and persons charged to court on commission of criminal
offences, the use of recognizance, sureties or bondspersons, jumping of bail and the
concept of forfeiture of recognizance in Nigeria. The aim of the authors herein is two fold; to clarify the law and principles on these subjects, for the benefits of
researchers, practitioners and stakeholders in criminal justice administration, to
analyse the practical application of the law in these fields with a view to determining
on the one hand, to what extant the practice in Nigeria is in tandem with extant law
and principles of reasonableness, and on the other hand, the extent of conformity of
the Nigerian law on same, to international best practices.