NAME: Adeleye Adejumoke Esther MATRIC NUMBER- 17/law01/017 COURSE- Criminology LECTURERS- Mr Fabamise, Mr Fisayo and, Miss Vera PAPER CONTENT- ASSIGNMENT (A question or legal issue which deals with the criminological aspect called “sentencing”) *~INTRODUCTION*~ It is of no surprise that crime has drastically gone deep into the fabrics of the country. So many crimes and criminological activities are committed and performed by citizens on a daily basis, both young and old and also the different genders. Although, both the government and the citizens of the country have adopted various means to curb these crimes which has been partially successful but numerous criminals are still being caught on a daily basis, not exempting the terrible case of Mr Evans who has been charged with five crimes which are frowned at in the court of law. It is due to these various crimes that the law introduced several punishments which serve as rules to ensure that citizens deter from these activities. Amongst many, Mr Evans is charged with the offense of kidnapping which attracts a punishment of one to twenty years imprisonment, which in some cases could also be life imprisonment as well. The offense of robbery is punished by custodial sentence and the state laws determine if it should be punishable as a felony or misdemeanor. Rape is generally punished by a maximum of fifteen years but in some aggravating cases, twenty years or life imprisonment. Defilement of a child between eleven years and below results into life imprisonment. Although the death penalty for ritual killings has been abolished in Britain and France it is still effective in some countries. The offense of extortion although most states have a wide range of perspectives it is usually punished as a felony. The last charge against the defendant Mr Evans is the offense of obtaining property by false pretense which is a felony that bags an imprisonment of three years. Although, if the value of the property is more than 1000 it could be seven years imprisonment. Therefore, in the process of sentencing an offender, all these punishments imposed by law are taken into high consideration amongst many other factors like the elements of a particular crime. The elements of an offense is very important in determining if the defendant is guilty of the defense and if he’s supposed to be sentenced with the appropriate punishment and measure. For example in a case of rape it must be proven that there was penetration, sexual inter course, lack of consent, intention; amongst others. It should however be noted that it is highly imperative and a sin qua non that every court of law should adhere and follow the main guidelines for sentencing a criminal for an offense. The Supreme Court therefore laid down six basic guidelines to aid the court in reaching a reasonable, Just and fair sentence. This is very important to prevent inequality and harsh treatment on the criminals, this will ensure that criminals are given the proper and right sentence they deserve, not something less or something more, this will also ensure smooth and easy judgements in general. These guidelines are expected to be followed by the court in all cases, Mr Evans case not being an exemption. It would however be important to understand the term “sentencing”. The Canadian sentencing conviction in 1987 defines the term sentencing as the judicial determination of legal sanction to be imposed on the person found guilty of an offense. Another definition of sentencing can be found in the case of ICHI VS STATE 1996 Where it was held that a sentence is a judgement formally pronounced by the court or a judge upon an accused person after conviction in a criminal prosecution imposing a punishment to be inflicted. In other words, it is the judgement formally ordering to the accused person legal consequences of the guilt which he has confess to or which he has been convicted of doing. A sentence is also defined as a definite order pronounced by a court of competent jurisdiction at the end of a criminal trial. (SECTION 248 of the criminal procedure act) The main purpose of sentencing is to contribute along with the crime prevention initiatives, the respect of the rule of law and maintenance of a just peaceful and safe society by imposing just sanctions that have various objectives. For example, to assist in rehabilitating offenders or, to deter the offender and other persons from committing offenses. A good case is the case of MOHAMMED VS OLAWUNI 1992 which deals with sentencing It should also be noted that in Nigeria, those who have previously convicted in criminal cases usually attract harsher sentences or punishment unlike first time offenders and at times, vice versa The six guidelines imposed by the Supreme Court is listed below and shall be elaborated upon for better insight: 0. Nature of the offense 0. Character or nature of the offender 0. Position of the offender among his confederates 0. The rampancy of the offense 0. Statutory limitations 0. Concurrency of the sentence. NATURE OF THE OFFENSE This can simply be defined as the type of offense committed by the offender. The basic inherent features, characteristics or qualities of the offense committed and also the way the offense is viewed in the eyes of a reasonable man. This is a very important factor in sentencing because not all offenses would attract the same punishment due to the type and nature as some are more fatal than others. Therefore the court has to take into consideration the kind of offense committed by the offender. As stated in ADEYE AND OTHERS VS STATE, a case of robbery by violence tried by the high court of the western state, the court imposed a sentence of eighteen years on the accused. On appeal, the Western state appeal court reduced to ten years. The accused person unsatisfied with the decision of the appeal court yet appealed to the Supreme Court which re enstated the eighteen years stating that ten years was too little for the seriousness of the offense. This is a very similar case to ADESANYA VS THE QUEEN which was a case of forgery. Note that in the cases of man slaughter or homicide there is a tendency of the court to impose slight penalties or punishments as opposed to provocative murder as seen in the case of IDOYE VS STATE In provocation man slaughter there is a tendency to impose an average term of ten years as seen in the case of ADEKANMI VS STATE Provocation is a statutory recognized defense or criminal defense which serves as a litigating factor and reduces murder to man slaughter. CHARACTER OR NATURE OR RECORD OF THE OFFENDER this factor deals with the offenders personality, lifestyle, behavioral pattern, criminal record or history and the kind of person he is overall; basically. This factor could either reduce his punishment or increase it in the sense that the court would most likely not have mercy or consideration on a usual offender or criminal but might consider the fact that a particular offender is in court for the very first time or has a clean criminal record. Which could be quite fair factually speaking. For example, in the case of ADELEYE VS AJIBADE the appellants bad character was significant in the restoration of an heavier punishment on them. In the case of R VS STATE the fact that the appellant had been previously convicted for defilement this led to the court to increase his sentence from eighteen months to five years with hard labor In the aspect of the position of the offender among his confederates, there are two major facts WHEN THE OFFENDER PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE. The leader is usually the center of the activity, the moving force and progenitor of the crime and usually takes a heavier sentence unlike the offender who plays a minor role. The court usually doesn’t “have mercy” on offenders like this cause most of the criminal activities are usually performed by them and organized my them. Therefore they should bear a heavier cross in the eyes of the law. QUEEN VS MOHAMMED AND OTHERS WHEN THE OFFENDER PLAYS A MINOR ROLE In this case it is of no doubt that the offenders sentence wouldn’t be as hard or tough as the latter cause in this case they might have performed the crime or agreed to participate due to various reasons like peer pressure, fear and in some cases, the offender might not know that it is a criminal offense being performed. He might not be informed by the major offender. There fore his punishment is usually lesser than the major offender. RAMPANCY OF THE OFFENSE Where an offense is rampant or prevalent, courts have thought that severity of sentencing imposed will aid in stamping out the crime. In the case of R VS HASSAN AND OWOLABI the accused person was sentenced to five years by the high court for forgery and another five years for stealing. He appealed and the Supreme Court expressed view thus; “fraud on the customs are shockingly prevalent and the forgery of commercial transactions or documents strike at the root of all credit. We are therefore not to reduce the sentence by one day “ Similar to the case of R VS HASSAN AND OWOLABI AND THE CASE OF ONYILOKWU VS COP Rampancy of the offense is one of the most accessory consideration as it can be a litigating factor or aggravating one depending on the nature of the offense. Rampancy of an offense can also be linked or likened to the nature of the offense or seriousness of the offense. Certain offenses have been considered as serious in nature for example sexual offenses especially when ur involves children as victims as was seen in the case of STATE VS ADEBOYE a three years sentence was imposed on an offender for inserting his finger unto the vagina of a little girl. The offense of robbery is also considered a serous offense THIS IS ONE OF THE MANY REASONS WHY MR EVANS CANNOT BE SPARED IN THE EYES OF THE LAW. (Olanipekun vs the state) STATUTORY LIMITATION This factor deals with laws which forbids prosecutors from charging someone with a crime that was committed more than a specific number of years. The general purpose is to make sure conviction occur only on evidence that has not detoriated its time. After the period of the statute has run, the criminal is essentially free, also where the state itself has stipulated time of imprisonment. The court shall not exceed statutory limit. However, not all crimes are governed by statute of limitation. Murder for example in some states, sexual offenses with minors, kidnapping, violence forgery have no statutory limitation. (THEREFORE MR EVANS CANNOT BE EXEMPTED UNDER THIS FACTOR BECAUSE HE WAS ALSO CHARGED WITH THE OFFENSE OF KIDNAPPING AMONGST OTHERS) It should be noted that in Nigeria, there are two types of statutory limitation: 1 statutory maximum 2 magisterial jurisdiction limitation Whenever a statute has stipulated time of imprisonment, no court should exceed it (QUEEN VS EYO AND OTHERS) This applies also in magisterial jurisdiction CONCURRENCY OF THE SENTENCE A concurrent sentence is a term of imprisonment equal to the length of the longest sentence. This method of sentencing only applies when a defendant has been sentenced for two or more crimes. The purpose of a concurrent sentence is to follow the defendant to serve all of his sentences at the same time In conclusion, guidelines are very important and piquant in the legal field because it is very helpful. Criminals and the offenses committed can be tackled easily and all in the right way using these guidelines. It is therefore of no doubt that following these guidelines, and the facts of the case, Mr Evans cannot escape the punishments and adequate sentences that is imposed on him. This will also sweep the society of a criminal like him who shouldn’t be part of the society to prevent delinquent influence. ◦