Community Service Order as an Alternative To Imprisonment in Lagos State, Nigeria

This research study is on community service order as an alternative to imprisonment in Lagos State, Nigeria. The Nigeria Criminal Justice System (CJS) was created in line with the British Colonial system when she gained her independence in October 1st 1960. Before the colonization of Nigeria, there was the traditional justice system which operates at the various ethnic groups’ level. The Nigeria criminal justice system is retributive in nature which has led to calls from NGOs, civil society organizations and some stakeholders on the need for the introduction of other forms of alternative sentence aside from fine and imprisonment with specific reference to community service order (CSO). The Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2007, No 10, Section 350 of Lagos State made provision for community service order but in reality it’s not being applied or practiced in Lagos State. A visit to prisons in Lagos reveals a pathetic condition of prisons in Lagos State especially the problem of overcrowding, poor feeding and lack of medical facilities for inmates. Some of these inmates are either in prison for minor offences or for being accomplices to a crime, while many others are in prisons awaiting trial. Hence the call for the improvement of prison conditions and the introduction and implementation of community service order in Lagos State. This would help in solving some of the problems of overcrowding, lack of medical facilities and poor feeding for inmates. The analysis of the study is based on the objectives and research questions which are to explore the viability of community service order and understand the perception of stakeholders on the introduction of community service order in Lagos State as against imprisonment. The study is purely qualitative and normative whereby semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders in the criminal justice system (CJS) in Lagos State.