Section 371 Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) Lagos

Section 371 Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State, as amended in 2021, is about Procedure for Trial on Charge for Certain Offences. It provides as follows:

(1) A trial for the offences referred to in subsection (4) of this section may not
be held in an open court where the court 50 determines.

(2) The names, addresses, telephone numbers and identity of the victims of
such offences or witnesses shall not be disclosed in any publication and it shall
be sufficient to designate the names of the victims or witnesses with a combination of alphabets.

(3) Where in any proceeding the court deems it necessary to protect the
identity of the victim or a witness, the court may take any or all of the
following measures-
(a) receive evidence by video link;

(b) permit the witness to be screened or masked;
(c) receive written deposition of expert evidence; and

(d) any other measure that the court considers appropriate in the circumstance.

(4) The provisions of this section shall apply to ~
(a) offences under sections 135, 137 and 260 of the Criminal
Law of Lagos State, 2015; and
(b) any other offence in respect of which a law of the State House of Assembly permits the use of such protective measures or as the Judge may
consider appropriate in the circumstances.

(5) Any contravention of the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall be an offence punishable on conviction to a term not exceeding one (1) year custodial sentence.

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