The Cross River State House of Assembly has said it is ready to adopt and domesticate the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act as a way of reforming the state's justice sector.
According to a statement on Sunday, the Speaker of the Cross River House of Assembly, Mr. John Lebo, disclosed this at a recent workshop held in Calabar, the state capital.
Lebo said the move by the House to domesticate the ACJA was to complement Governor Ben Ayade's political will to reform the Cross River State justice sector.
He said the House was adopting the ACJA because of its many benefits in the prosecution of criminals and to make up for the limitations of the 1963 criminal procedure code passed for all of the southern states.
He listed some of the provisions of the ACJA, which the state planned to take advantage of, as the procedure for the trial of corruption cases and plea bargain, non-custodian sentences like community service as well as procedure for trying underage offenders.
Lebo said, "And you know, when you have the Child's Right Commission, you now need to provide a procedure for the trial of children and then providing for custody for children outside of prison or outside of medical asylum.
"So, that provision is there, and we are also going to be the first state to provide for a procedure for trial of corruption cases in Cross River State outside the ICPC."
He said the law would help the state to deal with the backlog of criminal cases.
He said, "Sometimes, you have like 300 persons and then two or three political cases are taken to the EFCC. The Administration of Criminal Justice Act, by expectation of His Excellency, the governor, is to ensure that we also have such courts designated within that."
The Cross River State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Joe Abang, expressed the readiness of his ministry to take advantage of the ACJA.
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