A son to a late prominent politician in the southern part of Nigeria has resolved to institute criminal proceedings against the sponsors of a newspaper publication allegedly revealing his deceased father's scandals in his lifetime which his family has denied.
The question now is whether or not a person can be prosecuted for defaming the character of the dead.
A proviso under section 373 of the Criminal Code Act Cap.C38, Vol.4, Laws of the Federation(2004) provides that it is immaterial whether at the time of the publication of a defamatory matter the person in respect of whom such matter is published is living or dead.
Another proviso under the section 373 of the same Act provides that no prosecution for the publication of a defamatory matter concerning a dead person shall be instituted without the consent or approval of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Applying this provisos to the scenario at hand, one can only conclude that the sponsors of the alleged defamatory publication against the late politician can be arrested, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced.However, the consent/approval of the Attorney-General of the Federation must be sought and obtained before they can be prosecuted.
Finally, it should be noted that this position of the law relating to the prosecution of a person for defamatory publication concerning the dead is applicable in the southern part of Nigeria only as the Criminal Code Act applies in the southern part of Nigeria only.Thus, in the northern part of the country, a person cannot be prosecuted for a defamatory publication in respect of a dead person.In fact, the Penal Code, which is the codification of the criminal law for the North, only has a provision that is a bit close to defamation .That Penal Code does not really address defamation.
Thank you for your attention.
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