Section 5 Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) Lagos

Section 5 Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State, as amended in 2021, is about Search of arrested person. It provides as follows:

(1) Whenever a person is arrested by a Police Officer or a private person, the Police Officer making the arrest or to whom the private person hands over the person arrested may search the person, using such force as may be reasonably necessary for such purpose, and place in safe custody all articles other than necessary wearing apparel found upon him. If the person arrested is admitted to bail and bail is furnished, the person shall not be searched unless there are reasonable grounds for believing that he has on his person, any—

(a) stolen article; or
(b) instruments of violence or poisonous substance; or
(c) tools connected with the kind of offence which he is alleged to have committed, or
(d) other articles which may furnish evidence against him in regard to the offence which he is alleged to have committed.

(2) Whenever it is necessary to search a person, he shall be searched by a person of the same sex with a sense of decency.

(3) A Police Officer or other person making an arrest may in any case take from the person arrested any offensive weapon which he has on his person.

(4) Where any property has been taken under this section from a person charged before a Court of competent jurisdiction with any offence, a report shall be made by the Police to a Court of the fact of the property having been taken from the person charged and of the particulars of the property, and the Court shall, if of the opinion that the property or any portion of it can be returned consistently with the interests of justice and with the safe custody of the person charged, direct that the property or any portion of it be returned to the person charged or to any other person as he may direct.

(5) Where any property has been taken from a person under this section and the person is not charged before a Court but is released on the grounds that there is no sufficient reason to believe that he has committed an offence, any property taken from him shall be restored to him.

(6) When a person is in lawful custody on suspicion of committing an offence of such a nature and alleged to have been committed in such circumstances that there are reasonable grounds for believing that an examination of his person will afford evidence as to the commission of the offence it shall be lawful for a qualified medical practitioner, acting at the request of a Police Officer to make an examination of the person in custody as is reasonably necessary in order to ascertain the facts which may afford such evidence, and to use a force as is reasonably necessary for that purpose.

(7) Where there is no qualified Medical Practitioner available, the Police Officer or any person acting in good faith in aid and under the direction of such Practitioner or Police Officer, as the case may be make such an examination of the person in custody as is reasonably necessary in order to ascertain the facts which may afford such evidence and to use a force as is reasonably necessary for that purpose.

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