Anyone can be accused of professional misconduct at his/her place of work or at any point in time in his/her career and be called to face Administrative panel or a professional Disciplinary Committee. Since the outcome of the Panel/Committee will decide your fate, it is important that the rule of Natural Justice be followed so […]
Such prosecution is illegal. Subject to the provisions of the constitution, a person shall not be convicted of a criminal offence unless that offence is defined and the penalty for the offence is prescribed in a written law. Such offence and conviction must be known to law.[1] Moreover, conviction on retro-active legislation is unlawful. This […]
Do not panic as such action will fail. The rule is one trial for one offence. It is popularly known as the rule against double jeopardy[1]. All you just need is to show the following: a) that the first trial was on a criminal charge; b) that the trial was by a competent court; c) […]
Introduction Right to personal liberty is one of the most important of all rights with a wider scope that covers other rights such as right to movement, rights to assemble and associate. This is a right where everyone whether you are a Nigerian or Non-Nigerian cannot be subjected to any arrest, imprisonment and any other […]
The powers to arrest are vested in the police. This will enable them to carry out their task of detecting and catching criminals and suspects for trial by court. Our advocacy in this area is that some of our dear police friends, should not abuse this power. People can legally challenge abuse of power of […]
The procedure for effecting arrest is that the person making the arrest must actually touch or confine the body of the person to be arrested, for words alone are not sufficient unless there is submission to the custody by words or action. Where there is voluntary submission, the police officer may not use force. The […]
Anyone arrested with or without a warrant shall be taken with all reasonable dispatch to a police station or other place for receiving such persons. Where the accused is arrested by a private person, he must be handed over to the police as soon as possible or without necessary delay. Do not hold a suspect […]
A private person can also arrest a suspect where the police are not around. As a law abiding citizen, DO NOT beat the suspect or kill him/her because the person you arrested is still a suspect who might be innocent. You must handover the suspect to the police without unnecessary delay. You cannot detain a […]
Anyone whether innocent or criminal can be arrested or invited to the police station of one matter or the other. When a person is taken to a police station for the commission of an alleged offence or on reasonable suspicion of being about to commit a crime, he is entitled to the following rights under […]
If the police ask you to write a statement, which they normally do when they stop you on the road and take you to the station or when they invite you to the station, you should know how to write a good statement that will not implicate you in the absence of your lawyer. First, […]
