AN APPRAISAL OF THE RIGHTS OF A CHILD UNDER THE NIGERIAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Abstract

The rights of a child in Nigeria has for some time been overlooked by many aspects of our legislation. Indeed, most of the juvenile provisions in our enactments seem to have been eroded by time. It was not until the enactment of the Child’s Rights Act and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act that more efforts were made to comply with the Rights of a child. This work therefore considers the child offender under the Nigeria Criminal Justice System. Who is a child? Who is a child offender? What are the limits of his or her right in a criminal trial? Are there special provisions for his/her trial? These questions and more are what this paper seeks to answer.