38.
The question is whether the relief sought in this case by the Applicant/plaintiff had
been justified. Taking the first issue for determination, the review of what the learned counsel
submitted becomes necessary in this case. The 1st defendant relied on Section 29(4) of
CFRN, 1999 (as amended) which recognizes every married woman as of full age also, that
decisions of the High Court
lie on appeal to the Court of Appeal of Nigeria. The
2nd
defendant, relying on the case of Joseph Ibidapo v Lufthansa Airlines (1997) 4 SCNJ Pg l
at pg 3, stated that in view of the decision of the above case, no law exists, which prohibits
passing of death sentences on either adults or young persons and also relied on the case of
Joseph Amoshima v The State (2011) 6 SCNJ Pg 245 at 247 where the court held:
'Whereas in very many jurisdictions the death sentence is
frowned upon or even abolished. In Nigeria, it is fairly enshrined
in our statutes'.
38.
He therefore, urged the Court to hold that death sentence is constitutionally and statutorily
recognized and permitted in Nigeria and that the fundamental rights as provided in Chapter IV of
the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended were dully observed by the
trial court bearing in mind that, the offence of culpable homicide was contrary to Section 221 of
the Penal Code which carried a death sentence. The
3rd
defendant relied on the case of Mousa
Leo Keita v The State of Mali (2009) 1 CCJLR (PT2) 58 where this Court held that it is not a
Court –of Appeal decisions of national courts of Member States. Also, that it did not
possess the power to revise decisions made by the domestic courts of member States; hence it
was powerless and cannot adjudicate upon decisions of national courts. It therefore submitted
that the jurisdiction of the Community Court does not extend to appeals from decisions of
domestic courts of member States.
39. However, the plaintiff contended that the sentence of death passed on the Applicant/plaintiff
is a violation of her human rights pursuance of Article 7(c) of the African Charter on Human and
Peoples' Rights and
that the trial judge having even observed
that her counsel did not
effectively defend her nor represented her during the trial. He also referred to Article 4 of the
African Charter on Human and Peoples ' Rights and Article 6 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights which are laws that both protect the right to life and provide that no
one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right. He further referred to Article N. l 0 of the Principles
and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa to justify his stance.
12