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Section 35 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999

Preamble to the Constitution Section 1 – Supremacy of constitution Section 2 – The Federal Republic of Nigeria Section 3 – States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Section 4 – Legislative powers Section 5 – Executive powers Section 6 – Judicial powers Section 7 – Local government system Section 8 – New states and boundary adjustment, etc. Section 9 – Mode of altering provisions of the constitution Section 10 – Prohibition of State Religion Section 11 – Public order and public security Section 12 – Implementation of treaties Section 13-24 – Chapter II [Fundamental Objectives and directive Principles of State Policy] Section 25-32 – Chapter III [Citizenship] Section 33 – Right to life Section 34 – Right to dignity of human persons Section 35 – Right to personal liberty Section 36 – Right to fair hearing Section 37 – Right to private and family life Section 38 – Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion Section 39 – Right to freedom of expression and the press Section 40 – Right to peaceful assembly and association Section 41 – Right to freedom of movement Section 42 – Right to freedom from discrimination Section 43 – Right to acquire and own immovable property Section 44 – Compulsory acquisition of property Section 45 – Restriction on and derogation from fundamental human rights Section 46 – Special jurisdiction of High Court and Legal aid Section 47-51 [Part I – National Assembly (A – Composition and Staff of National Assembly)] Section 52-64 (B – Procedure for Summoning and Dissolution of National Assembly) Section 65-70 (C – Qualifications for Membership of National Assembly and Right of Attendance) Section 71-79 (D – Elections to National Assembly) Section 80-89 (E – Powers and Control over Public Funds) Section 90-93 [Part II – House of Assembly of a State (A – Composition and Staff of House of Assembly)] Section 94-105 (B – Procedure for Summoning and Dissolution of House of Assembly) Section 106-111 (C – Qualification for Membership of House of Assembly and Right of Attendance) Section 112-119 (D – Elections to a House of Assembly) Section 120-129 (E – Powers and control over Public Funds) Section 130-152 [Part I – Federal Executive (A – The President of the Federation)] Section 153-161 (B – Establishment of Certain Federal Executive Bodies) Section 162-168 (C – Public Revenue) Section 169-175 (D – The Public Service of the Federation) Section 176-196 [Part II – State Executive (A – The Governor of a State)] Section 197-205 (B – Establishment of Certain State Executive Bodies) Section 206-212 (C – The Public Service of State) Section 213 [Part III – Supplemental (A – National Population Census)] Section 214-216 (B – Nigeria Police Force) Section 217-220 (C – Armed Forces of the Federation) Section 221-229 (D – Political Parties) Section 230-236 [Part I – Federal Courts (A – The Supreme Court of Nigeria)] Section 237-248 (B – The Court of Appeal) Section 249-254 (C – The Federal High Court) Section 255-259 (D – The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja) Section 260-264 (E – The Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja) Section 265-269 (F – The Customary Court of appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja) Section 270-274 [Part II – State Courts (A – High Court of a State)] Section 275-279 (B – Sharia Court of Appeal of a State) Section 280-284 (C – Customary Court of Appeal of a State) Section 285 [Part III – Election Tribunals] Section 286-296 [Part IV – Supplemental] Section 297-304 [Part I – Federal Capital Territory, Abuja] Section 305-308 [Part II – Miscellaneous Provisions] Section 309-317 [Part III – Transitional Provisions and Savings] Section 318-320 [Part IV – Interpretation, Citation and Commencement] First Schedule Second Schedule Third Schedule Fourth Schedule Fifth Schedule Sixth Schedule Seventh Schedule

Section 35 of the Nigerian Constitution

Section 35 of the constitution of Nigeria is about Right to personal liberty of the people of the country. It is under Chapter IV (Fundamental Rights) of the constitution. Section 35 has seven subsections.

  1. (1) Every person shall be entitled to his personal liberty and no person shall be deprived of such liberty save in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure permitted by law –
    (a) in execution of the sentence or order of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty;
    (b) by reason of his failure to comply with the order of a court or in order to secure the fulfilment of any obligation imposed upon him by law;
    (c) for the purpose of bringing him before a court in execution of the order of a court or upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed a criminal offence, or to such extent as may be reasonably necessary to prevent his committing a criminal offence;
    (d) in the case of a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years for the purpose of his education or welfare;
    (e) in the case of persons suffering from infectious or contagious disease, persons of unsound mind, persons addicted to drugs or alcohol or vagrants, for the purpose of their care or treatment or the protection of the community;
    or
    (f) for the purpose of preventing the unlawful entry of any person into Nigeria or of effecting the expulsion, extradition or other lawful removal from Nigeria of any person or the taking of proceedings relating thereto:
    Provided that a person who is charged with an offence and who has been detained in lawful custody awaiting trial shall not continue to be kept in such detention for a period longer than the maximum period of imprisonment prescribed for the offence.

    (2) Any person who is arrested or detained shall have the right to remain silent or avoid answering any question until after consultation with a legal practitioner or any other person of his own choice.

    (3) Any person who is arrested or detained shall be informed in writing withitwenty-four hours (and in a language that he understands) of the facts and grounds for his arrest or detention.

    (4) Any person who is arrested or detained in accordance with subsection (1) (c) of this section shall be brought before a court of law within a reasonable time, and if he is not tried within a period of –
    (a) two months from the date of his arrest or detention in the case of a person who is in custody or is not entitled to bail; or
    (b) three months from the date of his arrest or detention in the case of a person who has been released on bail, he shall (without prejudice to any further proceedings that may be brought against him) be released either unconditionally or upon such conditions as are reasonably necessary to ensure that he appears for trial at a later date.

    (5) In subsection (4) of this section, the expression “a reasonable time” means –
    (a) in the case of an arrest or detention in any place where there is a court of competent jurisdiction within a radius of forty kilometres, a period of one day; and
    (b) in any other case, a period of two days or such longer period as in the circumstances may be considered by the court to be reasonable.

    (6) Any person who is unlawfully arrested or detained shall be entitled to compensation and public apology from the appropriate authority or person; and in this subsection, “the appropriate authority or person” means an authority or person specified by law.

    (7) Nothing in this section shall be construed –
    (a) in relation to subsection (4) of this section, as applying in the case of a person arrested or detained upon reasonable suspicion of having committed a capital offence; and
    (b) as invalidating any law by reason only that it authorises the detention for a period not exceeding three months of a member of the armed forces of the federation or a member of the Nigeria Police Force in execution of a sentence imposed by an officer of the armed forces of the Federation or of the Nigeria police force, in respect of an offence punishable by such detention of which he has been found guilty.
See also  Section 280-284 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999

Credit: https://publicofficialsfinancialdisclosure.worldbank.org/sites/fdl/files/assets/law-library-files/Nigeria_Constitution_1999_en.pdf

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