Lagos Judiciary Launches Non-custodial Sentencing Practice Direction
Kehinde Adeleye
The Lagos State Judiciary has launched a new Practice Direction on Non-Custodial Sentencing.
The initiative, developed in collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation, the Development and Advocacy Centre, and Law Hub, seeks to standardise the application of non-custodial sentencing across Nigeria.
Speaking at the launch, the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Hon. Justice Kazeem Alogba stressed the importance of uniformity in sentencing and described non-custodial measures as a necessary societal shift.
“Non-custodial sentencing has come to stay. It is not just an alternative; it is a permanent change in the administration of justice,” Alogba said. We must now ensure that judges, agencies, and all stakeholders understand their roles and responsibilities in enforcing it.”
He explained that the new practice direction and compendium of guidelines would help eliminate inconsistencies, provide judges with clearer direction, and minimise conflicts among institutions supervising offenders. Timely enforcement of judgments, he added, remains crucial to sustaining public confidence in the justice system.
Representing the MacArthur Foundation, Senior Programme Officer Yvonne Darkwa-Poku reaffirmed the foundation’s long-standing commitment to criminal justice reform in Nigeria. She commended Lagos State for its leadership, describing the launch as a major step towards ensuring fairness, reducing prison congestion, and making justice more responsive to societal needs.
“MacArthur began supporting work on criminal justice reform long before the ACJA was passed in 2015,” Darkwa-Poku said. “To see our grantees pushing for nationwide adoption and implementation of reforms such as this gives us great hope.”
Mrs. Yemisi Akile of the Human Rights Commission welcomed the reform, noting that the Commission had for more than two decades conducted prison audits highlighting persistent congestion. “This reform provides a realistic solution, and we welcome it wholeheartedly,” she said.
In her welcome address, Mrs. Adenike Oluwafemi, representing Mr. Osita Okoro, Executive Director of Law Hub, said the practice direction was long overdue.
“Nigeria faces the persistent challenge of custodial overcrowding, with our correctional centres holding far more individuals than they were built for,” she said. “This document provides judges with a clear framework for implementing non-custodial sentences effectively. Since reforms in Lagos often set the pace for other states, creating this framework here is essential for driving national adoption.”
Oluwafemi described the guidelines as a product of extensive consultation with stakeholders, including the judiciary, the Police, the Ministry of Justice, and the Nigerian Correctional Service. She praised Justice Alogba’s leadership, describing him as “a dependable partner in our shared goal of criminal justice reform.”
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Jimon Olohundare, represented by Charles Akinrosoye, Head of the Command’s Legal Department, said non-custodial sentencing would ease congestion in correctional centres while improving public perception of the judiciary.
Other speakers, including representatives of the Lagos State Attorney-General, the Nigerian Correctional Service, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and civil society organisations, emphasised the importance of inter-agency collaboration and timely implementation of judgments. They agreed that strict adherence to the new guidelines was essential for achieving the intended impact of non-custodial sentencing in Nigeria.
