RESEARCH BACK UP

1.0 INTRODUCTION Sentencing is the process of pronouncing a particular punishment on the accused person who has been found guilty by the trial court. The sentence on the accused is based on the principle law which has created the offence and which has also provided for the sanction provided in that particular offence. However, greatly though, it is a decision based on the discretion of the court, which influences the court’s decision on the sentence against the accused. It is a natural process of handling the society. 2.0 OBJECTIVES At the end of this unit, you should be able to: state the principles of sentencing explain idea behind the principles of sentencing decide on the particular principles of punishment in order to ultimately decide on the nature or types of sentencing. 3.0 MAIN CONTENT 3.1 Detailed Work Sentencing is the way in which principles of punishment are applied to individual cases for the desired results. The law as contained in the constitution an...

The essence of this unit is to acquaint you with the theories and types of punishment. If the court finds the accused person who was standing trial before it to be guilty of the offence for which he is being charged the court will then decide on the type of punishment to visit on the accused persons depending however on the provision of the law. This unit is treated thus: 1.0 INTRODUCTION The essence of punishment in a criminal trial is to subject the accused to some form of deprivation in as much the same way as it will also satisfy the aspiration of the complainant. The punishment to be meted out by the court is not at the whims and caprices to the court. The court itself is guided by certain principles while awarding punishments which are treated in this topic. The court will also look at the sanction provision of the enactment which creates the offence in question. 2.0 OBJECTIVES At the end of this unit, you should be able to: state theories of punishment explain the principles...

This unit is an attempt to analytically examine the offence of treason and it will be treated against the backdrop of the following items: 1.0 INTRODUCTION Treason is a felony and it is committed against lawfully constituted government of the State or the Federation of Nigeria. It is committed when the accused does everything possible to ensure the overthrow of a lawfully constituted government and begins to manifest same by some over acts. 2.0 OBJECTIVES At the end of this unit, you should be able to: show what constitutes the offence of treason show when it can be said that a person has committed the offence of treason or treasonable felonies explain what amounts to, waging of war in the offence of treason. MAIN CONTENT Criminalisation The offence of treason is contained in section 37(1) of the criminal code. That section states that any person who levies/wages war against the State in order to intimidate or overawe the President or the Governor of a State, is guilty of treason, and ...

In this unit, you will be exposed to the offence of rape which is rarely reported amongst the adult and which is more often committed particularly against very young girls. This unit will examine the following sub-themes: 1.0 INTRODUCTION The offence of rape very frequently occurs but is very rarely reported. This centres on the fact that very often the victims, usually female adults, protect their personality and integrity and therefore shy away from laying complaint against the accused. The offence is committed when the accused, usually a male, without the consent of the victim or through consent obtained by fraud or intimidation, has a carnal knowledge of the complainant. 2.0 OBJECTIVES At the end of this unit, you should be able to: explain what constitutes the offence of rape identify the circumstances under which it could be said that the offence of rape has been committed. 3.0 MAIN CONTENT 3.1 Detailed Facts In discussing the offence of rape, partic...

This unit will introduce the students to the History and sources of Criminal Law in Nigeria. It would enable the students to know the purpose of Criminal Law as well as the nature of crime. The unit is ramified as follows: 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Nigerian society is made of people with diverse cultures, behaviours and ways of life. The people relate with one another in the course of their daily existence. In this process, some people intentionally or advertently often step on the toes of others. A redress has to be put in place in order to check the excesses of the defaulting person or group of persons if peace and order are to be maintained in our organized society. It is on the foregoing premise that government has to put in place criminal law which regulates the conduct of the people against fellow citizens and government (public) and private establishments, and individuals. Criminal Law which is the law of crime in Nigeria has a good history and wa...

This unit will define crime to enable students to have a good understanding of the concept. In defining crime, three approaches to wit, the juristic, judicial and the statutory we shall adopt. An attempt would also be made to distinguish crime from sin or immorality. 1.0 INTRODUCTION The conduct of the people in any organized society must be regulated in order to ensure stability and social harmony. This is done through the mechanism of the law which has criminalized certain acts and omission as crimes. Crimes are those breaches of the law which the law forbids and also failing by way of missions to do, what the law has commanded. It follows that since different sets of people have defined crime according to their perceptions, we shall predicate our definition of crime on those perceptions in order to give a clearer understanding and right focus. 2.0 OBJECTIVES The focus of this unit is to define crime. At the end of this unit, you should be able to: define crime generall...

This unit will introduce you to stealing as a topic in criminal law. You will learn what stealing is, how it is different from other subjects in criminal law. 1.0 INTRODUCTION To steal is both morally reprehensible and criminally wrong. The offence of stealing is contained in the criminal and penal codes. From the way it is constituted, stealing can manifest in various acts and such acts have been spelt out elaborately in this work. 2.0 OBJECTIVE At the end of this unit, you should be able to: expressly state which acts constitute the offence of stealing and which acts do not. 3.0 MAIN CONTENT 3.1 Definition Ordinarily, stealing means the wrongful taking away of the goods of another. It could also mean to take away dishonestly or wrongfully especially secretly. Stealing is defined in the Criminal Code thus: “a person who fraudulently takes anything capable of being stolen or fraudulently converts to his own use or to the use of any person anything capable of...

In this unit, you will know that obtaining by false pretences is a felony whose main ingredient is intent to defraud and is geared towards anything capable of being stolen. This unit is patterned as follows: 1.0 INTRODUCTION The offence of obtaining by false pretences is commonplace to the extent that it is gaining increasing notoriety in Nigeria. The offence is so widespread that governments at all levels are doing everything possible by way of legislation to check its wanton occurrence. 2.0 OBJECTIVES What this unit seeks to achieve is for you to appreciate the ingredients of the offence of false pretence. This will enable you to have a firm grounding on the topic and also widen your intellectual frontiers within the greater regime of criminal law. The high incidence of the offence and the negative image it has given Nigeria in the international scene makes it imperative for you to be systematically instructed on it. At the end of this unit, you should be able ...