The Lagos District Prosecutors Office, a sub unit of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) handled more than 1700 cases at the State’s Magistrates Court in 2020.
According to the Director of Public Prosecution, Olayinka Adeyemi, the decision to create the District Prosecutor’s Office was an administrative decision and the project has been closely monitored.
She added that the prosecutors have established an operating protocol through which they give reports monthly, as well as forward technical and special cases to the DPP for advice.
The DPP said two District Prosecutors have been deployed to each of the Magistrate Courts in Lagos State to ensure that all charges brought in by Investigating Police Officers (IPO) meet the minimum threshold of a case and deserving of a criminal trial.
Mrs. Olayinka, who spoke during a meeting with the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) noted that the District Prosecutors sift cases brought in by IPOs and if found not to be criminal cases, they are forwarded to the Civil Court or restorative justice Court.
“The sub-unit was established to sift cases that are to be charged before the Magistrate Courts, especially civil cases couched to look like criminal cases,” she said
She stated that the government is gradually phasing out Police Prosecutors, noting that more Counsel will be needed to prosecute cases on behalf of the State.
The DPP while responding to the issue on Plea Bargain stated that the state’s counsel usually serve defense counsel the proof of evidence that contain the case of the Prosecution.
She said the directorate will afterwards consider making the Legal Advice available to Defense Counsel to help assess their cases and advice their clients properly on whether to choose the Plea Bargain option.
She added that the directorate does not receive enough applications of Plea Bargain from private lawyers, saying the directorate is left to decide on its own the number of years’ imprisonment to suggest by its sentencing guideline.
The director also, implored all Lawyers to play their path diligently in promoting and improving the Administration of Criminal Justice, saying: both the Prosecutors and Defence Lawyers are ministers in the temple of Justice.
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