Kano Govt inaugurates committee to review Criminal Procedure Code

The Kano State Government on Wednesday inaugurated a 16-member committee to review the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).

Speaking shortly after inaugurating the committee, the state Commissioner of Justice, Alhaji Ibrahim Mukhtar, said
that amending the Code would be a lasting panacea for de-congesting prisons in the state.

Mukhtar also said the review had become necessary considering the need for expunging some parts of the Code found to be outdated compared to the Criminal Justice Administration Act.

“It will not be easy to wash away all the laws that have been existing for decades in the name of effecting amendment of the Criminal Procedure Code,” he said.

According to him, discarding existing laws could only be feasible if they were found to be moribund and impracticable under the prevailing circumstances in the state.

He said the committee had been mandated to scrutinise the legal expediency of the Criminal Procedure Code in comparison with the Criminal Justice Administration Act and arrive at a point of determining which was superior in
the present circumstances.

“The objective of effecting the amendment is to come up with new innovations to suit the realities on ground.
“On the light prison sentences handed to inmates convicted for various offences, such inmates can be drafted for community service,” the commissioner said.

He said that the issue of de-congesting prisons had been accorded high priority by the Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje administration, having agreed to settle fines slammed on some prisoners for lighter offences.

Mukhtar said when completed, the reviewed CPC would go a long way in drastically reducing catalogue of cases pending in various courts of law in the state in addition to ensuring smooth and unimpeded dispensation of cases in good time.

He charged members of the committee to discharge the assignment with commitment to ensure its success.