Juvenile Justice Administration in Nigeria and Contemporary International Standards

Abstract

The age of Criminal responsibility in Nigeria is to protect the Rights of Children, in which case the Juvenile. There are other laws which deal with Juvenile administration in Nigeria, such as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, the Penal Code Law, Criminal Code, the Children and Young Persons Law (applicable in the various states) the Child Rights Act, which have been domesticated by some states etc. However, the institutions involve in Juvenile administration like the Police, the Court, the Prisons are established for the purpose. But the question therefore is, whether these agencies have met the contemporary international standards in Juvenile administration in Nigeria. This is what this paper seeks to appraise and it was discovered that there are many manifest problems in all the stages of Juvenile administration. It concludes that it is in dire need for reforms in the institutions, adequate funding, capacity building of persons and their specialization in child centered skills.