The Bauchi State House of Assembly on Thursday passed bills on the amendments to the penal code and the establishment of the state’s emergency management agency, IgbereTV reports
This followed the adoption of the report of the House Committee on Justice and Judiciary presented by its Chairman, Bello Muazu Shira, at the plenary.
Shira said: “The committee engaged stakeholders on the administration of justice in the State to holistically review the state’s Penal Code.
“The committee observed that the Penal Code of Bauchi State was passed into law in 1967 and the laws contained therein had become obsolete thereby truncating the administration of justice in the state.
“The penal code is no longer in tandem with current realities in terms of crimes and punishments and this necessitated the need to amend and standardize the Penal Code to make it reckon with modern penal laws and practices so as to address the challenges and loopholes that hinder smooth administration of justice in the state.
According to him, the new bill recommends non-custodial punishment like community service in Section 74 to assist in decongesting the state’s correctional facilities, amended the scale of imprisonment in default of fine, increased the length of sentence and the amount of fine to contend with the current challenges of emerging crimes.
