INVOLVEMENT OF CIVIL/PUBLIC SERVANTS IN THE BAIL OF A DEFENDANT: A JURISPRUDENTIAL REFLECTION

Abstract

This paper focuses on the bail system and the suretyship components of the administration of criminal justice within the Nigerian legal system. The paper, a library-based study, carried out a brief survey of bail system, the purposes of bail, types of bails, bail applications, discretion of court in granting bail, the duties and rights of surety. Special attention is paid to the pronouncement of the court in respect of the involvement of civil/public servants in the bail of a defendant. The paper posits that just as the court is bound to scrutinize the materials before it without considering any extraneous matter in determine whether to grant bail or not, the court should also abstain from imposing very excessive condition in respect of the status of a person to stand as surety for the defendant. The Court should not be seen to be discriminatory based on the social, economic and political status of persons to be designated as sureties. Therefore, it is submitted that insisting on civil/public servants as the only acceptable sureties is as discriminatory as rejecting civil/public servants as sureties for the simple reason that they are civil/public servants.