Lakeshaw Attorneys

Until the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 (ACJA) was passed into la w, it was the norm that upon an appeal being entered at the Appellate Court, the trial court ought to pend proceedings upon an application from the Appellant or upon being notified by the Appellant. Although an appeal on it own does not constitute a stay, it is desirable that the trial court stay proceedings upon becoming aware of the appeal in order to avoid a situation of conflicting decision which probably could render the decision of the Appellate court useless and nugatory. This was the position in both criminal and civil litigations. S. 306 of the ACJA, 2015 states thus: "An application for stay of proceedings in respect of a criminal matter before the court shall not be entertained." The provision of the above section is pari materia with the provisions of the ACJL in the States of the Federation where the ACJA has been domesticated. There are lots of assumptions on what this section of th