Creative Approaches to Crime: The Case for Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR) in the Magistracy in Nigeria

Abstract

Current trends in criminal justice administration indicates a paradigm shifts from retributive penal justice system towards creative problem-solving approaches as embodied in the concept of restorative justice (victim-offender mediation), victim compensation and other non-custodial options for crime disposal. Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms are also becoming key tools for improving the poor state of criminal justice delivery. Despite the importance and widespread global acceptance of the efficacy of these emerging principles and practices  in promoting effective criminal justice administration, attempts in Nigeria to integrate these concepts into the criminal                 justice system, especially in the magistracy has yielded limited results. One fundamental reason for the current state of affairs is the fact that these emerging concepts and principles were (and is) not essentially parts of the typical training curriculum for most  Magistrates, Judges, Law Officers and Stakeholders in criminal justice administration in Nigeria. This paper seeks to explore the extent to which Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms and Restorative / Reparative Justice Principles can contribute to the  current efforts at speedy and quick dispensation of justice in the Magistrates’ Courts in Nigeria, and other jurisdictions with similar legal history. In doing this, the paper shall highlight and consider suitable appropriate legal and institutional framework for mainstreaming ADR in civil and criminal justice in Nigeria.

Keywords: Alternative Dispute Resolution, Magistracy, Creative Approaches and Crimes