NAME: ADEMOLA ANOINTING OLUWAFUNMILOLA

MATRIC NO: 18/ LAW01/011

DATE: 10TH April, 2020
Questions

1. State clearly the procedure from arraignment to imposition of sentence in a criminal trial in
the High Court. Comment on the remedy available to the accused after the imposition of
sentence.

2. Comment on the various methods by which civil proceedings may be commenced in the High
Court.

1. By way of introduction, in a criminal trial, criminal procedure is used. Criminal

procedure is the method for commencing, conducting and concluding criminal proceedings.
Criminal cases are tried before the magistrate and High court. This work aims at looking out and
explaining the stages of criminal procedure, particularly from arraignment to imposition of
sentence at a High Court.

Criminal cases are tried by the state or government but not by a private person. The
stages of criminal procedure in a High Court are Indictment or information; which is an
accusation of a crime brought by the Attorney General or any of his subordinate officers against
an accused for trial in the High court, Proof of evidence; which are the names, addresses and
written statements of witnesses the prosecution wishes to call or put in evidence at the trial.
Arraignment and plea, Plea of guilty, Plea of not guilty, Prosecution, Submission of ‘no case to
answer’, Defence, Closing address, Judgment, Discharge, Finding of guilt and sentence.

Arraignment and plea

This is calling an accused person formally before the court by name at the beginning of a
criminal trial, to read to him the indictment or information brought against him and ask him
whether he pleads guilty or not. It is done by the registrar or any other officer.

An accused person may plead:

 1. Autrefois acquit : This means a plea that has been tried for the same offence before and
has been acquitted
2. Autrefois convict : means a plea that has been tries and convicted for the same offence
on a previous occasion
3. He may stand mute: Means the accused does not say anything.
4. Plea of guilty to a lesser offence: Pleading not guilty to the offence charged but pleads
guilty to a lesser offence.
5. He may plead guilty
6. He may not plead guilty

Plea Bargaining is the process of negotiating and agreeing for an accused to plead guilty
to a lesser crime in exchange for the dismissal of the serious criminal charge brought against him
for a quick disposal of the entire criminal proceedings.

Prosecution

In this stage, the counsel for prosecution always opens the criminal proceedings by
calling evidence for the prosecution. He calls his witnesses and examines each in chief, and
tenders any exhibit they might have.

Submission of “No Case to Answer”

At the close of the prosecution, the defence counsel may submit that the prosecution has
no produced sufficient evidence or made out prima facie case against the accused and
consequently, the accused has no case to answer and therefore the case should not proceed
further. The defense counsel makes the submission by addressing the court. The prosecution
counsel usually replies. The judge then makes a ruling on the submission.

Defence

After the close of the case for the prosecution and the failure of ‘No Case Submission’, if
such submission was made, the case for the defence then opens. The accused and his witnesses,
if any, are, one after the other, led in evidence-in- chief by the counsel for the defence and are
cross examined by the prosecuting counsel and re examined by the counsel for defence as may
be necessary.
 Closing Addresses

After the close of the case for the defence, the counsel for both sides then make closing
speeches by addressing the court from their filed written addresses.

Judgment

After the closing addresses by the counsel for both sides, the judge fixes the judgment for
a date provided that the summary trial, and the court rises in adjournment to enable it deliberate,
consider, or evaluate the totality of evidence in the case.

Discharge

When the accused person has not been found guilty, on merit, the judge will dismiss the
information or charges and accordingly discharge and acquit the accused person provided under
the criminal procedure law. The court usually makes orders such as Dismissal Order, Order of
discharge of the accused, Order of acquittal and Order of Compensation. On the other hand if the
prosecution failed on a technicality, then the court will usually discharge the accused, but not
acquit him. This is provided for by virtue of Section 301 and Section 325 of the Criminal
Procedure Act 2004.

Sentence

Where the accused is found guilty, before passing sentence an allocutus, plea for mercy
or leniency is usually made by the counsel for the defence. The types of sentences court may
impose are:

a. Imprisonment: This deals with jailing someone or restrictions put in place on someone to
restrict his freedom of movement. This is provided for by virtue of Section 377 of the
Criminal Procedure Act 2004.
b. Fine: an amount of money paid by one for breaking the laws or penalty for an offence.
This is provided for by virtue of Section 389 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2004.
 c. Death sentence: judgment of a court which stipulates an offender should suffer death for
an offence committed. This is provided for by virtue of Section 367 of the Criminal
Procedure Act 2004.
d. Caning: that is flogging someone. This is provided for by virtue of Section 384 of the
Criminal Procedure Act 2004.
e. Deportation: This is the expulsion of a non citizen from a country. This is provided for by
virtue of Section 402 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2004.
f. Binding over order: which is when one is released for any reason and may be bound to
keep the peace and be of good behavior for a specified period of time and failure t do so
amounts to punishment as prescribed by the court. This is provided for by virtue of
Section 300 Criminal Procedure Act (2004).
g. Order for detention: it deals with detainment of insane people and those not found guilty
by reason of insanity as it is during the pleasure of the president in respect to federal
offences or state governor in respect to state offences. This is provided for by virtue of
Section 401 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2004.
h. Order for disposal of property: this deals with where properties in relation to the offence
are confiscated, seized or disposed.
i. Order of costs: This occurs after a person has been found guilty, the court may order him
to pay to the prosecutor such reasonable cost in addition to any penalty imposed.
j. Award for damages: Where the courts orders for restoration of such stolen property to the
owner and Order for award of damages for such wrongful conversion or detention of
property.
k. Probation order: it is a period of time during which an offender must behave well, that is
keeps the peace or do community service. A probation Order may be combined with a
suspended sentence, fine and a community service. This is provided for by virtue of
Section 435 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2004.

In the imposition of sentence, there are four broad policies or philosophies behind
sentencing. This are policy of retribution; which deals with punishment for a wrong crime,
Policy of deterrence; which deals with punishment of offenders severely in order to make the
crime unattractive to others who may be criminally minded, Policy of reformation; which helps
to rehabilitate and improve the person to make him useful to the society and Policy of reparation;
which the criminal compensates the victim.

Remedy available to the accused person after the imposition of a sentence

An individual convicted of a crime may ask that his or her case be reviewed by a higher
court. So in order words, the accused can appeal to a higher court of Appeal to entertain the case
as one of second instance. If that court finds an error in the case or in the sentence imposed, the
court may reverse the conviction or find that the case should be re-tried.
In conclusion, the stages in criminal procedure are put in place to ensure justice and
an accused person of a crime is presumed innocent until when proven guilty.

2. By way of introduction, before examining the methods of commencing civil

procedure in a High court, one needs to know what civil procedure is. Civil procedure is the
body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil
lawsuit. So in order words, it is the procedure of commencing, conducting and concluding civic
proceedings.

The civic procedure rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced, the
types of pleadings or statements of case, motions or applications, and orders allowed in civil
cases, the timing and manner of depositions and discovery or disclosure, the conduct of trials, the
process for judgment, the process for post-trial procedures, various available remedies and how
the courts and clerks must function in court.

The Commencement of a civil action is the process taken to institute an action before a
competent court to determine the issues between parties. By virtue of Order 1 Rule 1 of the
High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (Civil Procedure) Rules, there are four
modes or methods of commencing a civil action in a High court in Nigeria namely:

a. By Writ of Summons
b. Originating Summons
c. By Originating Motion
 d. By Petition
Each of these modes is dependent on the specific nature of cases.

Writ of Summons

A Writ of Summons is a formal document addressed to the defendant requiring him to enter an
appearance if he wishes to dispute the plaintiff’s claim. Civil actions involving substantial
disputes of fact are commenced by way of a writ. These include, but are not limited to:

 Contract actions example claim for damages resulting from breach of contractual terms
and obligations

 Tort actions example claim for damages in respect of property damage resulting from
road accidents and negligence, Claim for damages resulting from fraud and defamation,
etc.
 Personal Injury actions example claim for damages in respect of personal injury and / or
death resulting from road and industrial accidents or negligence, etc;
 Intellectual property actions example claim for damages resulting from the infringement
of copyright, trademark or patent, etc.
 Admiralty and Shipping actions.

A writ of summons when filed is sealed or stamped with the court’s name on it for service
by a bailiff on the defendant. To give him notice of the claim, made against him and requiring
him to acknowledge service and defend it, if he does not admit the claim. A statement of claim
may be filed along with the writ, or later on within 14 days of the service of the writ of the
defendant. In Lagos state, the writ of summons or originating process shall be accompanied by
the statement of claim, list of witness, written statements, copies of every document to be relied
on at trial, written address in support of the action, and so forth, otherwise, it will not be accepted
for filing at the registry.

Originating Summons
An action is commenced by way of an Originating Summons where it is required by
statute or the dispute is concerned with matters of law in respect of which there is unlikely to be
any substantial dispute of facts. Compared to a Writ of Summons, the Originating Summons is a
simpler and swifter procedure for the resolution of disputes as it is determined generally on
affidavits filed and does not involve pleadings or many interlocutory proceedings. However,
many of the requirements concerning issuance, duration, renewal and service with regard to a
writ may apply, with the necessary modifications, to an Originating Summons. It shall be
prepared by the applicant or his Legal Practitioner, and shall be sealed and filed in the Registry,
and when so sealed and filed shall be deemed to be issued. An originating summons shall be
accompanied by an affidavit setting out the facts relied upon, all the exhibits to be relied upon
and a written address in support of the application. By virtue of Order 3 Rule 8 of the High
Court Of Lagos state (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004.

Originating motion
An Originating motion is used only when provided for by a statute or a rule of court.
Examples of actions to be commenced by this way are:
a. Application for habeas corpus: This is a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought
before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person's release unless lawful grounds are
shown for their detention.
b. Order for mandamus: This is a writ which commands an individual, organization (example
government), administrative tribunal or court to perform a certain action, usually to correct a
prior illegal action or a failure to act in the first place.
c. Prohibition or certiorari: This is a writ directing a subordinate to stop doing something the law
prohibits. This writ is often issued by a superior court to the lower court directing it not to
proceed with a case which does not fall under its jurisdiction.
d. Application for judicial review
e. Action for the enforcement of fundamental rights under the Fundamental Rights Enforcement
Procedure rules 2009

However, where a statute provides that action be commenced by application but does not
specifically provide the procedure, originating motion should be use.
 Petition

This is a written application made to court setting out a party case. This is only used where a
statute or the rule of court provide for its use. Petition is used in matrimonial proceedings for
divorce, or winding up of a company for its inability to pay its debts in the Federal High Court.

However, before commencing civil actions in a High Court, there are certain factors to
be considered by the litigant which are the Cause of Action; which is the series of events or
events that gave rise to a civil action and is founded in the relief or claim sought by the litigant,
the Jurisdiction of the court; that is if the court can entertain the subject matter, the limitation of
Action; which is a limitation period set for almost all actions that can be filed in court. For
example, where the subject matter of a suit is a contract, the limitation period is six (6) years,
action for recovery of land is 12 years etc, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR); which deals
with negotiation, conciliation, mediation and arbitration must have been explored before
proceeding to file an action in court and the Rules of the Court.

In conclusion, people institute civil cases in a High court in order to seek redress and get
justice.

Reference

 Malemi, E. (2012). The Nigerian Legal System text and cases.4th Edition. Princeton
publishing Co. Lagos
 Modes of Commencing an Action derived from
https://www.supremecourt.gov.sg/rules/courtprocesses/civilproceedings/commencement-
of an-action/modes-of-commencing-an-action
 High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004 derived from
http://www.nigeria-law.org/LagosStateJudiciaryHighCourtRules2004.htm

 Conducting litigation in Nigeria derived from

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=a4c554c0-0670-423c-9e6f
347d836c05a5
 Lawsuit in Nigeria derived from
 https://www.resolutionlawng.com/how-to-commence-civil-action-in-nigeria/
 Stages of a Criminal Case derived from
https://www.justia.com/criminal/docs/stages-of-a-criminal-case/
 A Simple Guide to Nigeria Civil Procedure (Part 1) - Education... Derived from
www.nairaland.com/simple-guide-Nigeria-civil-procedure