Revisiting the Power of Pardon in Pre-conviction Cases: A Critique of Federal Republic of Nigeria v Achida & Anor
Oamen, Philip E. (2020) Revisiting the Power of Pardon in Pre-conviction Cases: A Critique of Federal Republic of Nigeria v Achida & Anor. The Appellate Review Journal, 4 (1). pp. 17-32. ISSN 2734-3588
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RevisitingthePowerofPardoninPre-ConvictionCasesACritiqueofFederalRepublicofNigeriav.AchidaAnor.pdf - Accepted Version Download (258kB) |
Abstract
In the recent case of Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Achida & Anor. (2018) LPELR 46065 (CA) 23, the Court of Appeal of Nigeria held that the power of pardon, as donated by the Nigerian Constitution, can only be exercised over persons who have been tried and convicted by a competent court. In other words, relying on the constitutional presumption of innocence and the ejusdem generis rule of interpretation, the court reasoned that a person who is presumed innocent until proved guilty cannot be a beneficiary of pardon at a pre-conviction stage. However, drawing on several provisions of the Constitution and other statutes, this paper offers a critique of the judicial decision and calls for a review of the position. The central argument in this paper is that, going by the framing of the relevant provisions of Nigerian laws on pardon, pardon can indeed be granted before, during or after conviction in a criminal trial.
| Item Type: | Article | ||||||
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| Subjects: | CAH16 - law > CAH16-01 - law > CAH16-01-01 - law | ||||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences > College of Law, Social and Criminal Justice | ||||||
| Depositing User: | Philip Oamen | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 23 Jan 2023 16:32 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 23 Jan 2023 16:32 | ||||||
| URI: | https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/14143 |
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