Lawyers are divided over the arrest of minors during the recent #EndSARS protest that went awry. Policemen arrested some of them in the act of looting and arson.
Lawyers, who spoke with Sunday Telegraph, noted that the law of the place where such act was committed will go a long way in determining the fate of the accused under aged.
Reacting, a Public Interest Lawyer and Rights Activist, Dr. Abdul Mahmud noted that the issue is complicated. “The age of criminal responsibility will be interrogated by this case. Is the child criminally responsible for the act alleged?
If he is or he is not, recourse has to be made to Section 213 of the Child Rights Act: “A child who is accused of having committed an act such as is contemplated in section 209 of this Act, shall be tried in the court”.
“Is the act for which he is being held contemplated by Section 209 CRA? My view is that being above the age of 7 and below the age of 12, he cannot be held responsible for his act or omission. Confusing?
That’s the law for you”. In his own reaction, a Lagos-based lawyer, Tobi Oyesina noted that in every jurisdiction the world over there are basic laws that protect children when they are being investigated or actually standing trial.
“However, there are so many controversies across many nations as to the conceptual definition of a juvenile or a child, hence there are different ages for citizens to attain criminal responsibility in different parts of the world and Nigeria is not excused from the controversy and inconsistency in conceptual clarification.
“There are various shortcomings in our criminal justice administration and sometimes child offenders are often treated like adults and may be jailed in some cases without contacts with social workers, some of them become more notorious when mixed with adult offenders at the correctional centres.
“There are various laws in their substantive state but are very docile in the space of implementation. Some of the laws enacted which directly impact on the rights of children as it touches on criminal responsibility includes: Child Rights Act; Children and Young Persons Act; Administration of Criminal Justice Act; Criminal Code and Penal Code.
“According to the Child Rights Act , it defines a child to mean “ a person under the age of 18 years” this is in line with the provision of section 29(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999)(As amended) with respect to a minor.
“In contrast the provisions of the Children and Young Persons Act states that “a child means a person under the age of 14years.”
The above provisions clearly shows the varying degree of controversy in conceptual clarification, also it is imperative to state some states in Nigeria are yet to domesticate the Child Rights Act, so that will also impact on their perception on who can be referred to as a child when it comes to criminal trials. (New Telegraph)
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