I have gone through the draft of this book by Layi Babatunde Esq. and I am glad it has by merit broken a new ground in Legal Scholarship. Since Brett and McLean came out in 1963 on Criminal Law and procedure of Southern States of Nigeria with second edition in 1974 by C. O, Madarikan and Aguda very little effort has been made ever since to bring into focus the entire bodies of laws of crime and procedure globally applicable all over Nigeria. T. H Willians Penal Code and Procedure in the Northern State plus S. S. Ricahrdson's Criminal Procedure Code of the Nothern States have all gone out of print. What Layi Babatunde has done is to address the laws of crime in Nigeria in an all-embracing way.

His treatment of all topics is a delight to read, especially for the practitioner and I am sure the publication will, in future editions be a handy aide memoire for courts and practitioners alike. The book is more on case law but none the less has done justice to topics like what is now regarded as "tainted witness," and when to order retrial after an appellate court has set aside conviction.

It is gratifying to find legal practitioners outside the universities venturing into the terrain previously exclusive to the academics and doing so brilliantly. I am sure this book will bridge a gap in criminal jurisprudence and will improve with each subsequent edition.

I congratulate Mr. Layi Babatunde for his work, a brilliant contribution to our libraries just as his editing of Supreme Court Reports.


HON. JUSTICE S. M. A. BELGORE,
JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT.

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