vol_4_4_chapter_4_part_III

CHAPTER 4: THE SHARIA PENAL CODES
6. The words "the public" include any class or section of the public. 22
** [“Magistrate”] 23
7. "Court of justice" includes every civil or criminal court established by any Act or Law or
deemed to be so established and every person or body of persons exercising judicial
functions in the State by virtue of any Act or Law in force in the State. 24
8. "Judicial proceedings" denotes 25 a proceeding in the course of which it is lawful to take
evidence whether on oath or not. 26
9. The words "public servant" denote a person falling under any of the descriptions
hereinafter following, that is to say: 27
(a) every person appointed 28 by the Government or the Government of the Federation
or of a State while serving in the State 29 or by any Local Government Council 30 and
every person serving in the State appointed by a servant or agent of any such
Government or council for the performance of a specific public duty 31 while performing
that duty; 32
(b) every person not coming within the description set forth in paragraph (a) who is in
the service of the Government or of any Local Government Council 33 in a judicial or
quasi-judicial, executive, administrative or clerical capacity; 34
(c) every commissioned officer of the Nigerian Armed Forces; 35
21 Bauchi, Gombe, Kano, Sokoto separate the subsections of this section into two sections, one under
“Person” and the other under “Child”.
22 Sokoto omits this definition.
23 PC has here “The word ‘magistrate’ denotes a magistrate under the Criminal Procedure Code.” The
Sharia Criminal Procedure Codes of course do not refer to magistrates.
24 PC adds: “and shall also include every court martial held in Northern Nigeria under the military law
in force in Northern Nigeria.”
25 PC, Gombe: “includes” instead of “denotes”; Kaduna and Sokoto: “means”.
26 PC, Gombe: “proceeding in the course of which it is lawful to take evidence on oath.”
27 Bauchi, Jigawa, Yobe, Zamfara add: “without prejudice to the provisions of [designated sections of
their Sharia Courts statutes]”. Kebbi does not divide what follows into subsections, saying only: “The
phrase ‘public servant’ shall have the same meaning as defined by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.”
28 Katsina: “appointed as a civil servant by”. Gombe: “appointed or employed by”.
29 Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina: “by the Government of the Federation or of a State”. Sokoto: “by
the Government of the State or the Government of the Federation or of a State”. Gombe, Katsina
omit “while serving in the State”.
30 PC: “or by any native, provincial, municipal or other local authority”.
31 PC: “for the performance of public duties whether with or without remuneration or for the
performance of a specific public duty”. Gombe: “and their agents for the performance of the public
duties with or without remuneration”.
32 Katsina omits “while performing that duty”.
33 PC: “in the service of the Government or of any native, provincial, municipal or other local
authority”. Kano, Katsina: “in the service of the Government”.
34 Katsina adds a the end: “or belonging to any of the armed forces”. Katsina then omits what is here
subsection (c). Gombe omits this subsection entirely.
35 PC: “every commissioned officer of the Nigerian military forces or of the military forces of Great
Britain while serving in Northern Nigeria”. Katsina omits this subsection.
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