Criminal Code Act
Chapter 77
Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990
An Act to establish a code of criminal law.
1st day of June 1916
- This Act may be cited as the Criminal Code Act.
1A. The provisions of this Act shall take effect subject to the provisions of the Penal Code (Northern States) Federal Provisions Act.
- (1)The provisions contained in the Code of Criminal Law set forth in the Schedule to this Act, and hereinafter called "the code", shall, except to the extent specified in subsection (2), be State laws with respect to the several matters therein dealt with.
- The provisions contained in the code which relate to, any matter contained in the First Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, shall be the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with respect to the several matters therein dealt with.
- The code may be cited as the Criminal Code.
- The provisions of Chapters 2, 4 and 5 of the Criminal Code shall apply in relation to any offence against any Order, Act, Law, or Statute and to all persons charged with any such offence.
- The following rules shall, unless the context otherwise indicates, apply with respect to the construction of Acts, Laws regulations, and other instruments-
- When in any Act, Law or other instrument, public or private, the term "felony" is used, or reference is made to an offence by the name of felony, it shall be taken that reference is intended to be an offence which is a felony under the provisions of the code.
- When in any Act, Law or other instrument, public or private, the term "larceny" is used, it shall be taken that reference is intended to be the offence of stealing.
- When in any Act, Law or other instrument, public or private, reference is made to any offence by any specific name, it shall be taken that reference is intended to be the offence which, under the provisions of the code, is constituted by the act or omission that would heretofore have constituted the offence referred to.
- When in any Act, Law or other instrument, public or private, reference is made to any of the provisions hereby repealed, it shall be taken that reference is intended to be the corresponding provisions or substituted provisions of the code.
- No person shall be liable to be tried or punished in any court in Nigeria for an offence, except under
the express provisions of the code or of some Act or Law which is in force in, or forms part of the law of Nigeria:
Provided that in the case of an offence committed before the commencement of this Act the offender may be tried and punished either under the law in force when the offence was committed or under the code, provided that the offender shall not be punished to any greater extent than was authorised by the former law.
- When by the code any act is declared to be lawful, no action can be brought in respect thereof.
Except as aforesaid, the provisions of this Act shall not affect any right of action which any person would have had against another if this Act had not been passed; nor shall the omission from the code of any penal provision in respect of any act or omission which before the time of the coming into operation of the code constituted an actionable wrong affect any right of action in respect thereof.
- Nothing in this Act or in the code shall affect the authority of courts of record to punish a person summarily for the offence commonly known as contempt of court; but so that a person cannot be so punished and also punished under the provisions of the code for the same act or omission.
- Whenever any amendment is made in the code, all copies thereof printed by the Federal Government Printer after the amendment shall be so printed as to set forth the actual provisions of the code after omitting all repealed provisions or words, and embodying all newly enacted or substituted provisions or words.