Courteous Invitation to Plea Bargain and the Administration of Criminal Justice in the Fight against Economic and Financial Crime in Nigeria: A Critical Appraisal

Abstract

Plea bargain is a negotiated agreement which exists between the prosecutor and a Defendant in criminal cases whereby the Defendant pleads guilty to a lesser offence of multiple charges at the commencement of criminal trial in exchange for some concession usually by the prosecutor. This study set out to investigate the relevance of plea bargain in Nigeria's Criminal Justice System to determine whether its practice is really aiding the criminal justice delivery as advocated by the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 (ACJA), or it is rather debasing the jurisprudence of criminal trial on the altar of speedy dispensation of justice delivery system.  The study finds that while the fight against corruption in Nigeria is the front burner; there is more to corruption than just the bribery and the siphoning of government money. The study finds further that when resources meant for public welfare are stolen by few individuals, the idea of "the winner takes it all” will continue to thrive in our society on the platter of plea bargain. This study notes that plea bargain is threatening to make mincemeat of the raison d'etre of the fight against economic and financial crimes in Nigeria. The study concludes that the notion of plea bargain touches the root of morality and consequently breeding devastating effect on the nations' psyche of sacrificing the legal theory of jurisprudence of criminal trial.