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ABSTRACT
Human beings are entitled to rights on the basis of their being. These rights are referred to as fundamental human rights. The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which conferred these inalienable rights on the citizens also make provisions for instances when these rights may not hold sway. A person in incarceration is not to be deprived of his or her rights merely because of an accusation which has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt[1] in the law court. However, suspects in Nigeria have suffered great disregard of their right to dignity as well as other rights because of the criminal allegations leveled against them. This article therefore considers the rights open to a criminal suspect under the Nigerian Law; how previous criminal procedure laws i.e. the Criminal Procedure Act and the Criminal Procedure Law have protected the rights; how the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, which has repealed the Criminal Procedure Act and the Criminal Procedure Code, has tried to make better the protection of these rights and how best these rights can actually be protected. The article concludes by stating that the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 has gone a long way in ensuring that the rights of a suspect are protected in the course of a criminal procedure.
The problem that the country will however face is that of implementing the provisions of the Act. The economic situation bedeviling the country in times like this will largely contribute to hamper the putting of mechanisms in place to ensure the smooth running of several of the provisions of the Act.
[1] Allegations of crime are to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. Fabian Nwaturuocha v. The State (2011) 2-3 SC (PT. I) 111
