ABSTRACT
Court-martial is a major aspect of the administration of military justice. In Nigeria, courts-martial set up by the Army, Navy, and Air Force have had numerous problems in the last 24 years leading to the upturning of the majority of the judgments by appellate courts.
Judgments of about 70 percent of court-martial cases that were appealed against in Nigeria between 1990 and 2014 were upturned by appellate courts.
This work discovered that the major reasons that made appellate courts to upturn the judgments were on grounds of lack of jurisdiction, non-observance of the principles of fair hearing, and lack of diligent prosecution among others.
The Nigerian Armed Forces have lost several officers and soldiers to dismissals from courts-martial of which their dismissals and sentence of imprisonment were upturned many years after when it was difficult to get them back to service.
This equally led to the of several man-hours prosecuting such cases at high expense. These were equally accompanied by harsh comments from justices of appellate courts which in some instances ridiculed the military justice system in Nigeria.
The research is therefore aimed at proving that between 1990 and 2014, most of the court-martial judgments were upturned on appeal based on lack of jurisdiction, non-observance of the principles of fair hearing, and lack of diligent prosecution.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page ———————————————————————————————– i
Declaration ———————————————————————————————- ii
Certification ——————————————————————————————— iii
Dedication ———————————————————————————————– iv
Acknowledgment ————————————————————————————– v
List of Abbreviations ——————————————————————————— vi
Table of Cases ——————————————————————————————-vii-ix
Table of Statutes —————————————————————————————–x
Table of Contents —————————————————————————————xi-xiii
Abstract ————————————————————————————————xiv-xv
CHAPTER ONE
Background to the Study ——————————————————————————–1-3
Statement of Research Problem ————————————————————————3
Aim and Objectives ————————————————————————————- 3
Justification ————————————————————————————————4
Scope and Limitation of the Study ———————————————————————5
Research Methodology ———————————————————————————–5
Literature Review —————————————————————————————–5-10
Organisational Layout ———————————————————————————-10-11
CHAPTER TWO
Analysis of Court Martial Cases Upturned on Appeal on Grounds
of Jurisdiction——————————————————————————————— 12
Introduction ———————————————————————————————-12-14
Wrong Constitution of Court Martial Based on Seniority of Members ————————- 14-22
The retrial of Condoned Offence ————————————————————————–21-24
Court Martial Acting While Functus Officio ——————————————————- 24-26
Unsigned Convening Order ————————————————————————— 26-27
Unsworn Members of Court Martial —————————————————————– 27-30
CHAPTER THREE
Analysis of Court Martial Cases Upturned on Grounds of Fair Hearing ———————–31
Introduction ———————————————————————————————-31-34
Issue of Bias Raised and Overruled——————————————————————-34-38
Descent into the Arena by President and Members of Court Martial —————————-38-44
The same Person Convening and Confirming Court Martial Judgment ——————————44-47
Judgment Based on Single Unsworn Witness ——————————————————-47-49
Substitution of Charges During Confirmation ——————————————————49-51
Confirming of Sentence Same Day of Judgment without Legal Review ————————51-52
Non-Invitation of Vital Witness by the Prosecution ———————————————– 52-59
CHAPTER FOUR
Analysis of Court Martial Cases Upturned on Appeal on Grounds of Lack of Diligent
Prosecution and Other Reasons ————————————————————– 60
Introduction ———————————————————————————————-60-61
Lack of Proof beyond Reasonable Doubts ———————————————————–62-72
Reliance on Evidence of Co-Accused —————————————————————-72-74
Main Document not Tendered in Evidence ———————————————————74-75
Joint Trial of Separately Charged Accused Persons ————————————————76-77
Other Reasons that Led to Upturning of Court Martial Judgments —————————— 77
Unsigned Judgment ————————————————————————————-77-79
No Reason given by Court Martial for its Judgment ———————————————–79-82
Misapplication of Public Officers‟ Protection Act ————————————————- 83-84
Court Martial Awarding Sentence beyond Stipulation of the Law —————————— 84-85
Confirming Authority Substituting Lesser Punishment with a Harsher One ——————- 85-86
Disposition of Appellate Courts Towards Court Martial Judgments —————————- 86-88
CHAPTER FIVE
Summary and Conclusion—————————————————————————– 89
Introduction ——————————————————————————————— 89
Summary————————————————————————————————-89-90
Findings————————————————————————————————–91-96
Recommendations————————————————————————————–96-101
Conclusion———————————————————————————————101-102
Bibliography ——————————————————————————————103-104
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The of Nigeria like those of other countries of the world are created to defend the country from external aggression and maintain its territorial integrity.
They are also created to secure her borders from violation on land, sea, or air and to suppress insurrection, and act in aid of civil authorities. These functions form part of vital interests that are linked with the survival of the country.
During and internal insurrections as currently experienced in the North-Eastern part of Nigeria, several members of the Armed Forces pay the supreme prize for the nation to survive. It is for this reason that a special way of ensuring that discipline and justice are maintained in the Armed Forces was crafted.
It is in line with the dangers associated with being a soldier and the need to ensure both discipline and justice in the Armed Forces that court-martial was established.
A is a special court meant for only persons who are subject to military law, i.e. members of the Armed Forces and civilians working with military units on active service.
The early concept of courts-martial was that of a court of discipline rather than a court of justice. The quality of decisions that were handed down in those days was draconian in nature and without regard for justice.
The importance of ensuring quick dispensation of justice to the members of the Armed Forces may have informed the provision in the of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) 1999, barring the Attorney General of the Federation and of the States respectively from instituting and undertaking criminal proceedings in courts-martial.
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