Comparative review of compensation for the victims of crime under Nigerian and United States criminal justice system

Abstract

The criminal justice system in Nigeria and United States begins with arrest, arraignment, trials, conviction and punishment. In addition,  there is an idea of rehabilitation and socialization as part of the systems. The focus is about the accused, the crime, the state, or society  and indeed punishment for the offenders with little or no adequate attention on the victims of crime let alone how the victims of crime  can be compensated, rehabilitated and protected as person whose human right guaranteed by the constitution and social contract have  been violated especially under the Nigeria Criminal Justice System. These victims of crime suffer psychological, emotional and physical  harm due to the criminal conduct of the defendant or criminal negligent on the part of the state. It is against this backdrop that this  paper seeks to determine whether there is victims’ compensation law in Nigeria and if there is, is it adequate enough compared to other  countries like the United State. This paper adopted doctrinal research method and recommends that there should a comprehensive and  realizable law on how to compensate all manners of victims of crime in Nigeria just like in United States.