Is summary trial of copyright crimes consistent with right to fair hearing?

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Itanyi, Nkem ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2124-2642 and Anya, Sylvester Ndubuisi (2017) Is summary trial of copyright crimes consistent with right to fair hearing? International Journal of Private Law, 8 (3-4). pp. 219-236. ISSN 1753-6235

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Abstract

Copyright is listed in the exclusive legislative list1 in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).2 Accordingly, relevant statutes vest original jurisdiction over copyright matters in the Federal High Court.3 The Federal High Court Act provides that the Federal High Court should adopt summary trial in all criminal proceedings before it.4 Thus, persons accused of criminal infringement of copyright are tried summarily at the Federal High Court. Meanwhile, Section 36(6)(a) and (b) of the Constitution guarantees the right of every person charged with a criminal offence to prompt and detailed information on the nature of the offence against him and the right to be given adequate time and facility for the preparation of his defence. This paper contends that summary trial of persons accused of copyright crimes at the Federal High Court is inconsistent with these constitutionally guaranteed rights to fair hearing. The paper recommends amendments to the law to enable the trial of copyright offences to be by information.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
Uncontrolled Keywords: constitution of the federal republic of nigeria,constitutional guarantee,copyright act,copyright crime,court,information,proof of evidence,right to fair hearing,summary trial,law,sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3308
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law
Related URLs:
Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 07 Oct 2024 08:30
Last Modified: 01 Nov 2024 13:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/96882
DOI: 10.1504/IJPL.2017.087339

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