CRIMINAL PROCEDURE — Remand Powers — Magistrate’s Power to Remand for Indictable Offences Under Section 236(3) CPL
Principle Statement
For a magistrate to act under Section 236(3) of the Criminal Procedure Law, the person brought before him must have been arrested for an indictable offence outside the magistrate's competence to try. The magistrate is empowered to remand the suspect in custody pending arraignment before a competent court with requisite jurisdiction. Proceedings under this section do not constitute an arraignment, as the charge is not read and no plea is taken.
Ratio Decidendi (Source)
Per Onnoghen, JSC, in Lufadeju & Anor v. Johnson (2007) NLC-123-247-2001(SC) at p. 30; Paras A–D.
"For a magistrate to have jurisdiction to act thereunder, the person to be remanded or possibly granted bail where the court has the jurisdiction to so grant, must have been arrested for an indictable offence such as treasonable felony which is outside the competence or jurisdiction of the magistrate to try. In such a situation the magistrate is empowered, upon the suspect being brought before him, to remand the suspect in custody pending the arraignment of such person before a competent court with the requisite jurisdiction to try the said indictable offence. From the wordings of section 236(3) supra, it is obvious that the section does not contemplate the proceedings for remand before the magistrate to be an arraignment, since it provides specifically that the remand of the suspect by the magistrate in the circumstance is pending an arraignment of such a suspect before the appropriate court or tribunal for trial."
Explanation / Scope
Remand proceedings are a preliminary step in the criminal justice process for serious offences. They are not a trial on the merits but a mechanism to ensure the suspect’s availability for trial before a competent court. The magistrate’s role is limited to either remanding the suspect in custody or granting bail. Since no charge is read and no plea is taken, the procedural safeguards required for arraignment do not apply to remand proceedings.
