CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1       Background to the Study
The criminal justice system in Nigeria with particular reference to Abia State is made up of three distinctive inter-dependent components viz.; the police, the courts and the prisons. These agencies work in synergy in the prevention, deterrence, apprehension, investigation, trial, punishment and rehabilitation of offenders. The said public agencies maintain law and order, law enforcement and imprisonment of offenders. They also make provisions for sustainable programmes for corrections and rehabilitation of inmates.  Therefore, the goal of the criminal justice system is prevention, deterrence and control of crime in the society. Although, Moore (1997) noted that the criminal justice is not a system in the sense that, all agencies are directed towards a particular objective with the help of a centralized authority, that, it is a limited system to the extent that, the different agencies are linked through a process in which one agency’s output become the next agency’s input. The output of the police is the input of the courts, while the output of the courts is the input of the prisons, and vice versa.
Furthermore, Dambazau (2011) viewed same as an instrument of practical purposes, accountable for the efficient and effective reduction of crime. This is through three distinct mechanisms: deterrence, incapacitation and rehabilitation. Meanwhile, Iwarimie - Jaja (2003) viewed same as “a process where the different components co-ordinate their independent functions by processing the criminal suspect from one stage to the other”. The process involves arrest, booking, trial and confinement. However, this study will concentrate on the criminal justice system in Nigeria, lessons from the courts – prisons interact in Abia State geographical area.
The study will emphasize more on the contributions of the courts and the prisons towards timely delivery of justice in Abia State. Although, it is believed that the courts failure to dispense justice timely is due to prisons ineffectiveness and corruption in the Society. Meanwhile, the prisons argued that offenders standing trail never arrived late to courts and cannot be the reason for delay in justice delivery. Therefore, the study intends to uncover reasons behind such delay since, justice delayed is justice denied.