CSLS Seeks NASS Early Passage Of Criminal Justice Amendments Bill Before Them
…Implement National Minimum Standards For Proper Criminal Justice — Akinseye-George, SAN, Urges States Judiciary
Dr. Nafisat Makinɗe, Abuja
The Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (CSLS) has urged the National Assembly to pass the proposed Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) Repeal and Re-enactment Bill, 2026, and called for its signing into law before the end of 2027, as part of efforts to improve criminal justice administration in Nigeria.
The president of CSLS, Professor Yemi Akinseye-George, SAN, made the call on Tuesday at the closing programme of a project on improving criminal justice administration through the National Minimum Standards (NMS) in Abuja. He said the centre hoped the bill would receive legislative approval and presidential assent before the end of 2027, ahead of the end of President Bola Tinubu’s first term.
The bill seeks to repeal the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, and replace it with a new legal framework. President Tinubu transmitted the proposed legislation to the National Assembly in July 2026, and the Senate referred it for further legislative action. The bill also provides for an Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Council to strengthen compliance and promote more effective coordination among institutions responsible for criminal justice administration.
CSLS said the project was designed to address the gap between criminal justice laws and their implementation by providing measurable standards for police, courts, prosecutors, legal aid providers and correctional services. Working with the Federal Ministry of Justice and other stakeholders, the centre said it concluded work on the proposed ACJA reform bill. The project covered seven focal states and the Federal Capital Territory and engaged more than 1,700 justice-sector actors through training-of-trainers workshops, capacity-building sessions and workshops on developments in the ACJA and state Administration of Criminal Justice Laws.
As part of the project, the centre conducted inspection visits to courts, correctional centres, ministries of justice, police commands, the Legal Aid Council and Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committees. The visits were intended to gather evidence of compliance with the National Minimum Standards and identify areas requiring improvement. CSLS said project impact stories were documented in its end-of-project report, while information about its activities was shared through social media and the NMS website.
The need for continued implementation is reflected in CSLS’s 2025 National Assessment Report, which examined progress across the states using data covering 2022 to 2024. The report recorded an average implementation score of 51.38 per cent and noted that assessments for Imo, Jigawa and Ogun states could not be completed because the required data were unavailable. It identified continuing challenges in implementing the standards, reinforcing the need for sustained institutional commitment and reliable justice-sector data.
CSLS acknowledged the support of the European Union-funded Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme (RoLAC), International IDEA, the Federal Ministry of Justice, justice-sector institutions, state partners, the media and its project team. Akinseye-George said the closure of the project should not mark the end of reform, urging lawmakers to consider the bill and calling on states and justice-sector institutions to sustain the implementation of the National Minimum Standards.