Nigerian Legal System

The issue of intervention of the judiciary on the activities of political parties in Nigeria has sparked much controversy in recent years. The topic of this paper ‘Judicial intervention on the activities Of Political Parties in Nigeria: The contending perspectives’ is quite apt, considering the fact that Nigeria is set to hold another round of general elections in 2019. The controversy always leading to the invitation of court in these regard is usually attributed to the fallout from elections/tenure of party executives, nomination/sponsorship of candidates and suspension/expulsion of the membership status of some actors of the political parties. Political parties are generally considered to be voluntary associations. Being voluntary associations, they are deemed supreme over their affairs. The conduct of such affairs is not usually subject to the jurisdiction of the court. But it does seem that there are instances where the conduct of political parties becomes amenable to judicial supervision. The courts have not succeeded in clearly delineating such circumstances if at all they exist.
This paper therefore sets out to examine the organizational autonomy of political parties with a view to ascertain whether the courts in practical terms exercise any jurisdiction over political parties. This is best determined by the amenability of political parties to judicial decisions affecting them.

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Download & copy any of the uploaded  legal forms for a binding agreement.
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Cultural goods are priced possessions. They have countries or places of origin. They relate to people’s past and reflect their identity.
Political instability, socioeconomic challenges as well as demands for items of arts amongst others, have motivated the exportation of cultural goods from their places of origin, which include both developing and developed nations even though the developing ones are far more affected.
Nigeria as a country has its own share of the challenges that are presented by illegal exportation of her cultural patrimony. It is therefore needful to have appropriate mechanisms put in place to ensure that these irreplaceable goods are not lost.
This paper critiques the nigerian legal framework for the protection of her cultural goods from illicit exportation. It further analyses and considers Nigeria’s pre and post independence legislation including the prevailing National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) Act and their adequacy in this regard. The paper thereafter makes necessary recommendations for a way forward towards ensuring that an appropriate legal framework is installed to safeguard the Nigerian cultural goods against abuse by way of uncontrolled handling and exportation.

A lot of questions remains unanswered with regards to the rule of interpretation that should be used in the interpretation of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This paper aims to clinically address whether or not justice has been delivered using just the literal rule of interpretation as a strict style in the interpretation of sections of the constitution by the court over the years and what the case should possibly be.

The need for government to meet the needs of the citizens has led to an upsurge in the creation or proliferation of administrative agencies. Consequently, rules and regulations promulgated by administrative agencies are far more in number than laws enacted by the legislature. The purpose of this work is to ascertain the reasons for imposing the duties of the legislature on the executive arm of government, and the criticisms associated with the doctrine of Delegated Legislation.

This paper captures the historical background behind  the essence for implementing the use of Legal Assistants by the Nigerian Judiciary. It also highlights the functions of Legal Assistants within the context of the Nigerian Legal System and available technological tools that aid seamless management of caseloads timely and judiciously.

This is an undergraduate research project that borders on Family and medical law. It focuses on Artificial insemination and the state of the law in Nigeria, Customary and Islamic law. This research critically examines the legality of Artificial Insemination in line with the provisions of Nigerian Family Law and also the implications of such insemination on the status of the child conceived therefrom as well as the rights of such child under Nigerian Family Law.

Upon the monstrous advent of the colonial masters and the parochial amalgamation of 1914, different cultures, politics and religion were forcibly fused and draconian Laws distinct from the people, were made to safeguard and keep in check, these distinct entities. This was done with impunity without regard to the 'Spirit' of these various communities, therefore running contrary to the merits of the Historical School of Jurisprudence as championed by F.K Von Savigny. The result was the massacre of 1966, the 1980 Kasuwan Magani incident, the Kafanchan bedlam of 1987, 1991 Tafawa Balewa, 1992 Zango Kataf, 2010 Boko Haram bomb blast, Religious intolerance in all parts of the country, continuous disregard of the Law and the insurgence of the Boko Haram sect. Some have opined that a true deduction of the law must follow from the premise of the commander and the command and therefore the subject has no voice but to bow for fear of sanction. Others in philosophizing severed the Law from the Volk. Amidst these turbulent winds, this research seeks to delve into the merits of the Volksgeist as a concept in historical school of philosophical thought, with a view of exposing the reason behind the non-workability of Nigerian laws and the problem of the sustainability of 'One Nigeria'. Indeed this analysis will not only affect the Nigerian country but every other multi-ethnic cum multilingual country within the international sphere. The analytic method of philosophy is used.

At every dawn, when we tune-in to the broadcast channels we hear non-governmental organizations singing the songs of unity. Still in that wondering breath, the news shocks us with inhumane scenes of murder, torts and betrayal. From the north blows the evil wind of Boko Haram and the attractive package of Islamic banking. Still, another wind blows from Azikiwe's grave, whispering " ONE NIGERIA " , amidst our eluding democracy. Within the gamut of the law, some have argued that human right and democracy are foreign to Islam. Some have maintained that democracy and human right, Ise'allah, is the sit of Islam. Surprisingly some have opined that until Nigeria becomes an Islamic state or embrace the tenets of Islam, only then will true democracy be achieved. The gist is that the Constitution forbids any state religion but recognizes Christianity and Islam alike; the Constitution present a gateway for democracy-a gateway which has been argued to be against the structural background of the Islamic jurisprudence, hence the question of the supremacy and fairness of the constitution. Amidst these turbulent waters is this project born, with the aim to amalgamate these conflicting thoughts; filter them from fallacies and possibly but succinctly present the demise, merit or panacea to these philosophical thoughts within the parlance of the law. The methodology implored is both jurisprudentially analytical and comparative. At the end, it is my conclusion that while the principles of fundamental human right and some principles of democracy are recognized by the Quran, the practical adherence and framework for safeguarding them, is at large; that the current insurgence of the Muslims, springs from political interest and misinterpretation of the Holy Quran although some part of the Quran and other Sharia laws are incompatible with the Constitution. It is therefore my recommendation that a true Confederal system of government is Nigerian's best hope.

From Patkun's case to Ayman's case and down to Omnia's case, the arguments that surround the jurisdiction of the Federal or State high court to entertain passing-off claim remains to be fully resolved. This Article presents a different view to what many scholars have opined.

The Nigerian legal system is based on the English common law legal tradition by virtue of colonization (by the British people) and the attendant incidence of reception of English law through the process of legal transplant. Nigeria has come under both military and civil administrations. On 29 May 1999, after a general election which ushered in the present democratic dispensation, popularly referred to as “the Fourth Republic”...

Law clinics are established with the fortitude of law students offering free legal services, while producing lawyers who are set for meeting the demands of the world after graduation effortlessly. Nigeria faces challenges with people who are denied access to justice within the criminal justice sector. As such this paper analyses the impact of law clinics in flipping this script by way of tracing the history of legal education in Nigeria, expatiating on the development of law clinics, and explaining the correlation between law clinics and the criminal justice sector.

Trata-se do texto completo da 10ª edição da Revista Anistia Política e Justiça de Transição, em que há um artigo meu sobre problemas na Comissão da Verdade na Nigéria, que pode mostrar problemas intrínsecos a esta maneira jurídica de tratamento de questões sociais.
"O fenômeno da instalação das Comissões da Verdade mais recentes insere-se em um contexto mundial em que o Direito Penal em sua faceta retributiva expande-se em vários setores, cuja explicação parece residir nos novos interesses da doutrina em relação aos direitos coletivos e difusos, o surgimento de novos riscos na sociedade (usinas nucleares, biotecnologia), bem como uma percepção de aumento da insegurança. (...).
As metas da reparação às vítimas na justiça de transição geralmente são extremamente ambiciosas, e a situação vivida pela Nigéria, com seus problemas, incapacidades e virtudes, poderá demonstrar alguns dos limites às pretensões deste tipo encontradas nas Comissões da Verdade".

In this work, there is an illumination of the liability of legal practitioners to their clients and by paying careful attention to the provisions of the Legal Practitioner Act 1962, CAP 207 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. This work also observes the provisions of the United Kingdom as well as the United States in regards professional negligence.

The internet age has, without doubt, strengthened the fundamental right of freedom of expression has enshrined in the Constitution. Rights being what they are, originates side by side with responsibility/duty. As such, one possessed with the right of expression, has a duty not to malign another’s reputation. This duty is protected under the umbrella of ‘Defamation’ in the law of Torts. Reputation is not always directly related to a man’s personal reputation but also to his trade, brand/trademark or business reputation. Thus, if one were to say or infer that ‘X is a bad product” or “Beware of x”, will the owner of X successfully sue when what is apparently referred to is the product and not the owner? Simply put can we cut-off the man from his product? Can a trade libel action be successfully taken in Nigeria?

The introduction of the English legal system to Nigeria as a consequence of her colonisation has seen to it that many of the legislations in Nigeria are patterned after English laws. The most profound effect of this transplantation was felt in the area of the customary law of the indigenous people of Nigeria, which is now made applicable subject to passing the various validity tests. This article examines the impact of the Received English Laws on some customary laws of the Urhobo people of the Niger Delta region of Southern Nigeria. It highlights some areas of the Urhobo customary laws that have been most affected and the ones that despite the seemingly overwhelming influence of English laws have remained unchanged but rather are instrumental in shaping the legal jurisprudence in Nigeria. The article concludes that Urhobo customary law like other customary laws is dynamic and adapts naturally to changes in times and society and as such should be allowed to metamorphose on its own where needful rather than a forced transformation through the instrumentality of the English validity tests.

PREFAZIONE del curatore

Il volume raccoglie le ricerche poste alla base degli interventi con cui un gruppo di ricercatori dell’ISAG (Istituto di Alti Studi in Geopolitica e Scienze Ausiliarie di Roma) ha inteso contribuire al percorso formativo degli studenti che hanno frequentato il corso di ‘Fondamenti di comparazione giuridica’ da me tenuto presso il Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche dell’Università di Roma Tre ed inserito al terzo anno della laurea triennale in Scienze Politiche e Relazioni internazionali.

Questa iniziativa nasce da una necessità e da un felice incontro personale.

Nell’ambito del corso di ‘Sistemi giuridici comparati’ ho da sempre avvertito l’esigenza di offrire agli studenti la  possibilità non solo di ascoltare la mia visione e analisi delle forme che assume il diritto, dei sistemi e delle tradizioni giuridiche operanti in varie parti del mondo, del rapporto fra diritto e società che informa tali sistemi, dei processi che li innervano e degli attori che ivi operano, ma anche di poter dialogare con persone che hanno avuto modo di approfondire da vicino le concrete e più attuali caratteristiche di un determinato sistema di diritto, vieppiù in un’ottica arricchita da un peculiare taglio metodologico: la contestualizzazione del sistema giuridico rispetto alla sua collocazione geopolitica.

Tale esigenza ha trovato soddisfazione non estemporanea grazie all’incontro – favorito da Giacomo Guarini (al quale si deve anche la paziente opera di revisione e armonizzazione dei vari contributi) - con Tiberio Graziani, presidente dell’ISAG, il quale ha accolto con favore il mio invito e stimolato i giovani ricercatori del suo istituto a confrontarsi con un modo nuovo di “leggere” le aree del mondo di cui solitamente si occupano, unendo alla analisi geopolitica gli strumenti della ricerca giuridica, con l’obiettivo di una visione e comprensione più ampia del soggetto geopolitico e del rispettivo sistema di diritto.

Sicchè, con una comune articolazione di base, frutto del confronto della mia visione con quella dei singoli autori (sia pure adattata alle specificità del sistema giuridico di un determinato ordinamento statale, che rimane l’imprescindibile perimetro posto a base della riflessione degli autori), i saggi raccolti procedono all’analisi e all’illustrazione dell’oggetto della ricerca sotto i diversi profili della collocazione geopolitica del paese (sia storicamente, sia con uno sguardo rivolto alle possibili evoluzioni), dell’assetto costituzionale e politico dell’ordinamento, dei modi di formazione del diritto e/o dei diritti presenti nel sistema giuridico, dei suoi operatori e del ruolo del diritto all’interno della società, non senza dimenticare di approfondire uno o più temi o istituti peculiari di quell’ordinamento laddove questi siano apparsi all’autore particolarmente caratterizzanti.

In questa sede, ancora una volta, intendo in conclusione ringraziare Pietro Longo (Tunisia), Giuliano Luongo e Marianna Griffini (Nigeria), Simona Bottoni (Brasile), Massimiliano Porto (Cina), Valentina Gullo (Giappone), Francesco Brunello Zanitti (India) e Alessandro Lundini (Russia) per la passione e la pazienza mostrata con gli studenti e nello scrivere, nonché per gli apprezzabili risultati finali.

The article provides a panoramic view of the Nigerian law. It makes the understanding of the Nigerian law easy for everybody especially for non-lawyers. For non-Nigerian who desires to know the nature of the Nigerian law, the article is quite helpful and well-researched.

The Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 (VAPP), is a progressive piece of legislation in Nigeria, that has the potentials of curbing issues of violence if properly applied. In this paper, Gladys Emmanuel provides an overview of the present state of gender-based violence in Nigeria, by mirroring incidences that occurred during the covid-19 mandatory lockdown in Nigeria.

This essay is a treatise on the laws, procedures, and applications of the execution of the Capital Punishment in Nigeria. It does not include arguments for the retention or abolition of the stipulation of the capital punishment for criminal offences.
Laws relating to capital punishment in Nigeria include the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN); the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) ; the Criminal Code Act (CCA)  and the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA)  for the Southern states; the Penal Code (PC)  and the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC)  for Northern states (including the Federal Capital Territory); the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act  restricted in usage only to the FCT; and the various Sharia Penal Codes of individual States practicing Sharia.

At every dawn, when we tune-in to the broadcast channels we hear non-governmental organizations singing the songs of unity. Still in that wondering breath, the news shocks us with inhumane scenes of murder, torts and betrayal. From the north blows the evil wind of Boko Haram and the attractive package of Islamic banking. Still, another wind blows from Azikiwe’s grave, whispering “ONE NIGERIA”, amidst our eluding democracy. Within the gamut of the law, some have argued that human right and democracy are foreign to Islam. Some have maintained that democracy and human right, Ise’allah, is the sit of Islam. Surprisingly some have opined that until Nigeria becomes an Islamic state or embrace the tenets of Islam, only then will true democracy be achieved. The gist is that the Constitution forbids any state religion but recognizes Christianity and Islam alike; the Constitution present a gateway for democracy – a gateway which has been argued to be against the structural background of the I...

The Nigerian Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015 not only seeks to prohibit violence against persons but aimed at eliminating violence in public and private life of victims. It provides for punishment for perpetrators of violence and remedies for victims. No doubt, the Act made provisions for violence towards men and women generally. Early Nigerian criminal statutes on crime such as Penal Code and Criminal Code defined some of the offences covered in the Act either directly or indirectly. Adopting a doctrinal approach with a cursory look at some specific offences in Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015, such as female genital mutilation, harmful widowhood practices etc. reveals that women related offences were specifically captured by the Act. It is however the findings of this work that men related violence such as castration, conscription in war times, genital torture etc. were neglected. Hence, the call for gender symmetrical in subsequent reviews more so that many States in Nigeria are already domesticating the law. This recommendation is at the time of insurgency in Nigeria when men undergo all forms of men related violence and with impunity.

Climate change is a raging phenomenon of the 21st Century. Globally, people are becoming more aware of its effects and causes and are demanding attitude change from their governments. On the United Nations scale, all recognised countries have made several commitments to combatting climate change. Nigeria is not exempt. However, it seems as though the legislations and regulations necessary to achieve this is less than lacking in Nigeria. This work aims to shed light on the legal framework for climate change in Nigeria as well as propose suggestions where appropriate.

In February 2016, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) released the Guidelines for Banking Operations in the Free Zones in Nigeria 2016(CBN Guidelines) to regulate banking operations in the free zones in Nigeria. It is argued that the CBN’s approach is lawful, in the sense that any bank which now desires to carry out banking operations in any Free Trade Zone (FTZ) would now, in addition to the FTZ authorisation from Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority require banking license from CBN. To the contrary, it is contended that the CBN cannot, by mere guidelines, declare that banks carrying on business in the FTZs are no longer branches of Nigerian banks but full-fledged separate businesses. This article examines these views in the light of existing legal framework in Nigeria. The article recommends that the CBN acts within the exact ambit of its powers under the law to avoid its actions being declared ultra vires its powers.

This article examined the peculiar nature of the Nigerian legal system which was inherited from the British, and which incorporated both the Islamic and customary law into its practice. The work also examined the conflicts that usually arise as a result of this infusion/incorporation, especially between Islamic law and Common law. Finally, the author made suggestions as to what can be done to minimize this friction.