A Critical Appraisal of the New Bail Regime Under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 – An Examination of American Experience

When the Administration of Criminal Justice Act,2015 was enacted, the purpose among others, was the protection of the rights of the suspect/defendant and the society from crime. In the prosecution of its purpose, the Act provides for the defendant’s right to bail subject to the discretion of the court to stipulate deposit of money among other terms as a condition for the bail. Furthermore, the Act provides for the establishment of professional surety regime whereby registered bondsmen are allowed to stand surety for defendant on the payment of fees to be determined on agreement with the defendant. The consequence is the growth of bail industry at Abuja and other cities of Nigeria, where bondsmen force relations of defendants to contribute money in payment of their charges in the same manner as ransom is contributed to kidnappers for the freedom of their loved ones in detention. In this paper, the writer appraised the security implication of the new bail regime on Nigeria and its implication on the right of the defendant to presumption of innocence enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). In the course of so doing, the writer uses the doctrinal research method and drew from the American experience on the subject before arriving at conclusion.