ABSTRACT
Crime victim compensation is new and untested legal theory in Nigeria’s criminal justice system. What we have attempted to do in this paper is to establish the jurisprudence for its operation. In doing this, we examined the theories of criminal punishment and brought out that while the utilitarian and retributive basis for punishment are well established basis for criminal punishment, compensation of crime victims is the only theory of penology that considers the interests of the crime victim, and is a late entrant to penology. We thereafter examined legislation from three Nigeria jurisdictions that deal with crime victim compensation. We established that the provisions in the different legislation, while they are high on intent, are deficient on the details of an effective and practical crime victim compensation programme. None of the legislations provide for compensable heads injury and details of funding the compensation programme. Another major shortcoming is that no clear procedure is established for the functioning of the programme. Notwithstanding these shortcomings, it is our conclusion that a crime victim compensation programme is a commendable addition to our system of justice administration, provided it is not permitted to replace the primary purpose of our criminal law which is the apprehension and punishment of offenders.
Keywords: Punishment, Utilitarian Theory, Retributive Theory, Compensatory Theory, Crime Victims Compensation.