Law clinic whose aim is to provide pro bono services to indigent members of the society. This has helped both the indigent members of the society and I myself as a law student who through this medium has learnt a lot about the practical aspects of this great profession.
I am a member of Aba prisons department, and most cases handled by my team members were all based on bail application not fully perfected. I will therefore streamline my reflection on the journey to finding a surety for certain indigent inmates with particular reference to two cases.
I was opportune to go in search for some named sureties of certain inmates and I came to the realisation that some of them has no idea that the named inmate who is their relative has been in prison for a while now. While some of them claimed that they did not even know the named inmate. For instance one of the cases, was that the surety knew the name inmate but denied totally immediately she was told about the main purpose of the inquiry. While some acknowledged the fact that they were aware and they know the inmate but refused to be of help like in the case of Justice whose cousin happens to be fully aware of the case but refuses to get involved.
Challenge encountered: one of the major challenges
encountered was the fact that the number of some certain next of kin's
were not going through and not available anymore and these indigent
members do not have any other number which they can be used to be
contacted as they have been away for a while now. This now brings us to
the second challenge encountered which was locating the place of
residence of the named next of kin. Most times on getting there they
are usually not around or they are out of town.
My reflections: I observed that most people who has been
granted bail but remained in custody is either because their next of kin
is not aware of theirs situation or that their next of kin won't want
to help sign the surety or to find someone who will help sign it for the
person. This is because of the fear of the liability imposed on them
the surety. Most of them are afraid of having any business or
connection to do with the court process.
I believe that there should be a separate platform for persons who are on bail but their bail has not been perfected.
I believe that there should be a separate platform for persons who are on bail but their bail has not been perfected.
Comments
Post a Comment