The Jurisprudence of Conspiracy in Penal Administration of Justice in Nigeria: A Critique of Kaduna, State Penal Law, 2017

Abstract

An intention nursed by an individual is not a criminal offence but when 2 or more persons agreed and harbor such heinous intention with the agreement to put it in to execution, the law interferes to stop the dangerous consequences which may result as a result of such agreement. Criminal Conspiracy is always carried out secretly thus creating problems of easy detection. This mischievous tendency is punished as inchoate offence in that it is even if short of completion, is a crime of its own, The paper aims at examining Criminal Conspiracy by analyzing the definition, nature and principles of criminal conspiracy as well as a critique of Kaduna State Penal Law, (2017) with some judicial decisions by adopting the doctrinal method of research which analytically examined constitutional provisions, statutory provisions, judicial decisions, legal journals, authoritative legal books and other relevant literature which form both primary and secondary sources of the research. It was observed that there exist problems of direct proof of criminal Conspiracy in that it is carried out in secrecy and recourse is to inference which is qualified.