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Journal articles on the topic 'Nigerian Courts'
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1
Sholanke, Oladipo O. "Reflections on Some Judicial Decisions on the Construction of the Nigerian Land Use Act." Journal of African Law 37, no. 1 (1993): 89–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855300011153.
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For this exercise, three of the many new decisions of Nigerian courts on the interpretation of some provisions of the Nigerian Land Use Act have been chosen. Two of the decisions were delivered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria while one was by a Court of Appeal in Nigeria.
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Frynas, Jedrzej George. "Problems of Access to Courts in Nigeria: Results of a Survey of Legal Practitioners." Social & Legal Studies 10, no. 3 (September 1, 2001): 397–419. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/a018603.
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Access to courts constitutes a key test of the quality of a legal system. However, there is a dearth of empirical studies on access problems in developing countries. This article identifies the main problems of access to courts in Nigeria on the basis of a survey of 154 Nigerian legal practitioners, an analysis of Nigerian court cases and two field trips to Nigeria. It focuses on one specific type of litigation: litigation related to the Nigerian crude oil industry. The survey results suggest that the main constraints of access to courts in Nigeria are financial problems as well as the lack of education and information of potential litigants, which falls in line with the results of other empirical studies in developed countries.
3
Sodipo, Bankole. "Are foreign copyright works protected in Nigeria?" Queen Mary Journal of Intellectual Property 10, no. 2 (June 9, 2020): 238–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/qmjip.2020.02.05.
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Despite Nigeria's treaty obligations, Nigerian courts have, in the last quarter of a century, consistently but erroneously held that the Nigerian copyright statute does not protect copyright works of foreign persons. The purport of the decisions is that foreign persons cannot sue to protect their copyright in Nigeria. Given that the decisions of three trial courts and a Court of Appeal decision were never appealed to the Supreme Court, they arguably remain good precedent. The decisions suggest that foreign direct investors who need copyright protection are exposed in Nigeria. Relying on two of these cases, a leading intellectual property law text echoed this erroneous position. This article demonstrates that the decisions were reached in ignorance of applicable statute. As such, the decisions should not be followed by trial courts irrespective of the rule of binding judicial precedent. The article outlines various mechanisms within the copyright statute that extend the protection of the Nigerian copyright statute to foreign works. This article goes further than previous works. Unlike earlier works, this article suggests the path trial courts should tread, despite the rule of precedent, in distinguishing this line of cases to hold that foreign corporations incorporated in many treaty countries and foreign works emanating from many treaty countries are protected in Nigeria. Unlike earlier works, this article demonstrates that lower courts may refer this issue to higher courts for interpretation and guidance under the case stated procedure. Whilst other works made passing references to the Copyright (Reciprocal Extension) Order 1972 (the 1972 Order), that arguably extends copyright to foreign works under the Copyright Act 1970, none cited judicial authority that held that the 1972 Order made under the repealed Copyright Act 1970 is still valid under the current Copyright Act. None referred to the Interpretation Act that supports this judicial authority. Unlike previous work, this article reveals that if the Microsoft case that is the most significant of these cases is appealed to the Nigerian Supreme Court, the court will extend the time within which the Microsoft Corporation can appeal and reverse Microsoft and the line of cases identified in this article.
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Efe, Chinedu Justin, and Oghenerioborue Esther Eberechi. "Property Rights of Nigerian Women at Divorce: A Case for a Redistribution Order." Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal 23 (March 17, 2020): 1–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2020/v23i0a5306.
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In Nigeria, marriage is hardly conceived as a partnership of equals in relation to the property rights of spouses during marriage and at divorce. This is because the Nigerian courts do not redistribute property at divorce. This leaves the financially weaker spouse (usually the wife) at an economically disadvantaged position. This article therefore compares the position of the matrimonial laws in England with that of Nigeria, whether there are provisions for the redistribution of property between the spouses at divorce. The comparative analysis reveals that family laws in England empower the family court to redistribute property amongst spouses at divorce. On the contrary, the matrimonial property laws in Nigeria provide for the settlement of property at divorce. The analysis also reveals that the courts in Nigeria adopt the strict property rights approach in ordering the settlement of property, which is detrimental to the wife. The article also makes a case for a redistribution through the economic analysis of the worth of a housewife. The authors therefore argue that the Nigerian courts should depart from this approach and borrow from the English courts. The authors recommend the amendment of the matrimonial property laws to fill this gap. That would enable the Nigerian courts to make a redistribution order, so as to vary the recognised property rights of spouses in order to provide compensation for any reasonable loss caused by marriage and ensure that the financial benefits of marriage are shared on a just and equitable basis.
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Chuma-Okoro, Helen. "The Nigerian Constitution, the ecowas Treaty and the Judiciary: Interplay of Roles in the Constitutionalisation of Free Trade." Global Journal of Comparative Law 4, no. 1 (April 17, 2015): 43–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2211906x-00401002.
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This paper discusses the Nigerian Constitution and the ecowas Treaty to determine whether and how they support free trade as envisioned in the Treaty, and the role of the judiciary in the realisation of this objective. Focusing on the ecowas Community Court and Nigerian superior courts vested with jurisdiction over constitutional matters, it argues that specific constitutional norms and policies of Nigeria inhibit the realisation of the objectives of free trade as constitutionalised in the ecowas Treaty. Relying on the principles of direct applicability and direct effect, and the arguments developed around these principles in relation to the obligations of State parties to treaties, it argues further that Community law should be applicable in national jurisdictions and enforced by national courts. Thus, Nigerian courts and the ecowas Community Court both have jurisdiction to arbitrate matters arising from national laws and policies having the effect of inhibiting the ecowas objectives of free trade. It concludes that while the ecowas and Nigerian frameworks support the interplay of roles in the adjudication and enforcement of ecowas norms, this would depend on the extent to which some of the constitutional and policy constraints in question are addressed.
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Garba, Ahmed Salisu. "Permissible Limitations to Freedom of Religion and Belief in Nigeria." Religion & Human Rights 15, no. 1-2 (April 23, 2020): 57–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18710328-bja10009.
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Abstract The application of permissible limitations to restrict freedom of religion and belief in Nigeria continues to generate debate among scholars. This article applies a socio-legal methodology to analyse the legal rationale that Nigerian courts have used in cases concerning limitations to freedom of religion or belief. First, the article explores the history of the legal frameworks for the protection of freedom of religion and belief including its limitation in Nigeria. Second, the article analyses Nigerian courts’ interpretation of the concept with specific reference to the legal rational used. Third, the article investigates the application of the proportionality test to balance the regulatory power of the state and citizens’ right to practice their religion. The article engages with case-law on freedom of religion, mostly from High courts and Court of Appeal in Nigeria. The article contains contributions from several scholars, religious groups, public officials, Non-Governmental Organisations obtained through interviews at their various offices.
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Adaralegbe, Bayo. "Application of Limitation Laws to Oil Spill Compensation Claims in Nigeria." Journal of African Law 62, no. 3 (October 2018): 403–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855318000244.
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AbstractThis article examines a recent decision of the Nigerian Court of Appeal that essentially pronounces that, in respect of oil spill litigation in Nigeria, statutes of limitation are inapplicable to the federal law that creates the basis for oil spill compensation claims. This decision has dire consequences for the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The article finds this decision not only bad for public policy but actually based on very faulty reasoning and contradictory of an earlier decision of the Court of Appeal that was not considered. The article concludes that, despite this decision being the most recent, lower courts in Nigeria are not bound to follow it.
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Durojaye, Ebenezer, and Yinka Owoeye. "‘Equally unequal or unequally equal’." International Journal of Discrimination and the Law 17, no. 2 (April 20, 2017): 70–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1358229117704039.
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The purpose of this article is to critically assess the approach of Nigerian courts to interpreting section 42 of the Constitution. This article argues that Nigerian courts are yet to develop a substantive equality approach to interpreting section 42 of the Constitution. Rather, the courts have tended to adopt the formal equality approach to interpreting the section. Analysing some decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, the article argues that in order to safeguard women’s rights and address gender inequality in the country, Nigerian courts should lean towards substantive equality approach to the interpretation of section 42 of the Constitution. This is not only consistent with Nigeria’s obligations under international law but also crucial to addressing historical imbalances between men and women in the country.
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Okafor, Obiora Chinedu, and Basil Ugochukwu. "Poverty in the Human Rights Jurisprudence of the Nigerian Appellate Courts (1999–2011)." Journal of African Law 60, no. 2 (April 6, 2016): 289–311. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855316000048.
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AbstractThe major objective of this article is to examine the extent to which the human rights jurisprudence of the Nigerian appellate courts has been sensitive and / or receptive to the socio-economic and political claims of Nigeria's large population of the poor and marginalized. In particular, the article considers: the extent to which Nigerian human rights jurisprudence has either facilitated or hindered the efforts of the poor to ameliorate their own poverty; the kinds of conceptual apparatuses and analyses utilized by the Nigerian courts in examining the issues brought before it that concerned the specific conditions of the poor; and the key biases that are embedded in and shape Nigeria's jurisprudential orientation. The line of cases analysed in the article indicate that the Nigerian appellate courts, as elsewhere, possess great capacity, for good or ill, to impact public policy in the field of poverty reduction.
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Adebola, Bolanle. "Common Law, Judicial Precedents and the Nigerian Receivership Procedure." Journal of African Law 58, no. 1 (January 20, 2014): 129–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855313000181.
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AbstractBefore the enactment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 1990, receivership in Nigeria was governed by case law, informal rules (of practice) and the Companies Decree 1968. Nigerian judges were heavily influenced by British case law, precedents were British and the Nigerian Companies Decree was a transplant of the British Companies Act 1948. Against this background, the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered the Intercontractors decisions in 1988, which subsequently governed the nature, status and powers of Nigerian receivers. In 1990, CAMA introduced a more robust receivership regime which prescribed the nature, status and powers of the receiver, reversing some of the Intercontractors principles. However, the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, failed to enforce the relevant provisions of CAMA or to examine the applicability of the Intercontractors principles that they conscientiously enforced. This article examines the validity of the Intercontractors principles and their continued relevance under CAMA 2004.
11
Obamuroh, Tolu O. "Jurisdiction and admissibility: a case study." Arbitration International 36, no. 3 (July 22, 2020): 373–413. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/arbint/aiaa023.
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Abstract Arbitrators cannot decide cases if they do not have jurisdiction. For this reason, a challenge to jurisdiction may prompt judicial intervention. Most national courts, however, limit their intervention to question of jurisdiction and do not interfere in the arbitral process if the objection is merely one of admissibility. The distinction between jurisdiction and admissibility is a valuable tool for differentiating when judicial intervention is appropriate and when it is not. The problem is that some national courts generally conflate the concept of jurisdiction, which may properly be the basis for such intervention, with admissibility issues, which should be referred to the tribunal to decide. As a case study, this article focuses on the conflation by Nigerian courts leading to an overly expansive allocation of authority to courts to make initial rulings, which in turn is abused by parties and undermines the efficiency of arbitration in Nigeria. To address the problem, this article proposes that Nigerian courts adopt the distinction between jurisdictional and admissibility objections in international arbitration. This distinction, while not perfect, can promote efficacy in arbitration seated in Nigeria. Adopting the distinction between admissibility and jurisdiction will enable Nigerian courts to exercise greater restraint in cases that do not go to the root of courts’ authority and promote outcomes that are more coherent and more consistent with their obligations under the New York Convention and Model Law.
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George Frynas, Jędrzej. "Social and environmental litigation against transnational firms in Africa." Journal of Modern African Studies 42, no. 3 (August 3, 2004): 363–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022278x04000230.
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As elsewhere in the world, Africa has experienced a rise in litigation against transnational corporations for adverse environmental and social impact. Cape plc and RTZ have been sued in British courts for environmental damage and for breach of employment rights in Africa. Companies which sold products to South Africa's former apartheid regime, such as Fujitsu and IBM, are now being sued in US courts. Shell and Chevron are being sued in US courts for human rights abuses in Nigeria. At the same time, foreign firms have been successfully sued in African courts for social and environmental damage. This article outlines the main relevant court cases and attempts to assess the significance of this litigation. The discussion of litigation in this article is divided into three parts: court cases filed in English, American and African (mainly Nigerian) courts. This is followed by an explanation of the triggers of legal change, a discussion of the impact of litigation and the conclusion.
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Mustapha, Zakariya, Sherin Kunhibava, and Aishath Muneeza. "Court referral and Nigeria's Financial Regulation Advisory Council of Experts (FRACE)." ISRA International Journal of Islamic Finance 11, no. 2 (December 9, 2019): 206–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijif-11-2018-0126.
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Purpose This paper aims to highlight resolution of Islamic finance dispute by common law-oriented courts in Nigeria with respect to Sharīʿah non-compliance and legal risks thereof, as well as the lesson to learn from Malaysia in that regard. This is with view to ensuring Sharīʿah compliance and legal safety of Islamic finance practice as prerequisites for sustainability of the Nigerian Islamic finance industry. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative method was used; interviews were conducted with different categories of experts and primary data collected in relation to Sharīʿah non-compliance and legal risks in adjudicating Islamic finance dispute by civil courts and the role of expert advice as basis for court referral to Financial Regulation Advisory Council of Experts. A doctrinal approach was adopted to analyse relevant legislative provisions and content analysis of secondary data relevant to applicable provisions in matters of finance before civil courts. Findings The paper discovers an indispensable role of conventional financial regulations in sustaining Islamic finance industry. Appropriate laws for Islamic finance under the conventional framework foster legal safety and Sharīʿah compliance of Islamic finance activities in related cases handled by courts. Nigeria civil courts can aid sustainability of Islamic finance when so equipped and enabled by laws that address apparent Sharīʿah non-compliance and legal risks in judicial dispute resolution. Inadequate legal provisions for dispute resolution breeds Sharīʿah non-compliance and legal risks in Islamic finance, undermine its prospects and stand inimical to its sustainability. Research limitations/implications This research is limited by its focus on Sharīʿah non-compliance and legal risks alone, which emanate mainly from judicial resolution of Islamic finance dispute by Nigerian civil courts. Practical implications This research seeks to motivate a determined and deliberate regulatory action and change in approach towards addressing apparent risks associated with Islamic finance while resolving disputes therein by civil courts. It has implications on common law jurisdictions generally that adopt similar approach as Nigeria's while introducing Islamic finance into their conventional finance framework. Originality/value Dispute resolution and other regulatory functions of civil courts are important to Islamic finance though apparently overlooked while introducing Islamic finance in Nigeria as in other emerging jurisdictions. This research ascertains the role of the civil courts as indispensable for Islamic Financial Institution (IFIs) operations and demonstrates that such courts are needed for the development and sustainability of Islamic finance industry. The research demonstrates the end-to-end requirement of Sharīʿah compliance of Islamic financial transactions as absolute and needs be ensured and guarded at dispute resolution level by properly equipped courts.
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Abdulrazaq, M. T. "Judicial and Legislative Approaches to Tax Evasion and Avoidance in Nigeria." Journal of African Law 29, no. 1 (1985): 59–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855300005623.
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This paper attempts to look at tax evasion and avoidance and the approach of the Nigerian courts and legislature. The starting point is an incursion into the history of taxation, especially personal taxation in Nigeria. Attempts are also made to define and distinguish evasion and avoidance while at the same time possible reasons are explored for explaining why people react to evasion and avoidance.Reasons are given for resorting to English judicial decisions in explaining various Nigerian circumstances and lessons learnt from them are noted. The attitude of the Nigerian courts and legislature to tax evasion and avoidance are illustrated and in conclusion suggestions are offered to remedy the various anomalies in the system which aid tax evasion and avoidance.
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Nriezedi-Anejionu, Chinenyendo. "Could the Non-domestication of Nigerian Treaties Affect International Energy Investment Attraction into the Country?" African Journal of International and Comparative Law 28, no. 1 (February 2020): 122–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/ajicl.2020.0305.
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In a bid to attract foreign direct investments (FDI) into the energy sector, Nigeria has signed many investment and energy-related treaties. However, many of these treaties have not been ratified and domesticated as required by the 1999 Nigerian Constitution and as such cannot be applied by domestic courts when necessary. This raises serious legal questions on the status of the various energy investment-relevant treaties Nigeria has signed. This is especially relevant to bilateral investment treaties (BITs) where their non-domestication renders their provisions not legally binding on domestic courts. It becomes problematic in situations where certain provisions in BITs such as the exhaustion of local remedies (ELR), fork-in-the-road (FITR), denial of justice and expropriation claims, require disputes to be addressed (at least initially) in domestic courts before international arbitration is accessed. This article provides an analysis of various ways non-domestication of treaties could affect the investment interests of a dualist country such as Nigeria that is actively seeking to attract FDI for the development of its energy sector. Pointing out the implications and various ways both investors' and Nigeria's interests could be undermined, it argues for a reform in the way treaties are implemented in Nigeria to facilitate their domestication.
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Okonkwo, Eloamaka Carol. "Assessing the Role of the Courts in Enhancing Access to Environmental Justice in Oil Pollution Matters in Nigeria." African Journal of International and Comparative Law 28, no. 2 (May 2020): 195–218. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/ajicl.2020.0310.
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Oil pollution issues link environmental justice and access to justice as aspects of procedural environmental justice. To achieve procedural environmental justice, this article aimed at examining access to courts in Nigeria. To accomplish this aim, the author has analysed the meaning of environmental justice, considered the principles and ways of enforcing access to justice in environmental matters and appraised the decisions of the Nigerian and African regional courts. It found very fundamental roles of the courts and identified many impediments to accessing courts in Nigeria which result in human rights violations and environmental injustices. The author drew conclusions and made recommendations.
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Weimann, Gunnar J. "Divine Law and Local Custom in Northern Nigerian zinā Trials." Die Welt des Islams 49, no. 3-4 (2009): 429–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/004325309x12548128581063.
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AbstractThe introduction of Islamic criminal law in twelve northern states of the Nigerian federation after 1999 was widely perceived as an attempt to Islamise the Nigerian state. In this article it is argued that the “šarī'a project” started as a pre-election promise, but was immediately supported by Muslim reform groups whose aim was not the establishment of an Islamic state but rather the imposition of šarī'a compliant behaviour on Muslims. Particular emphasis was put on illicit sexual relations (zinā). However, Muslim societies of northern Nigeria have a notion of zinā which differs in important aspects from the classical doctrine, and certain forms of socially accepted extramarital sexuality still exist. Based on an analysis of a sample of šarī'a court trials for rape, sodomy, incest and zinā, it is shown that the judicial practice in šarī'a courts has helped to mitigate the effects of Islamic criminal law on the traditional societies in northern Nigeria. In particular, accusations based on suspicion and pregnancy out of wedlock as proof of zinā have been rejected by the courts, thereby confirming the privacy of the family compound and traditional conflict resolution through mediation. At the same time, male control over female sexuality has been strengthened.
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Achara, R. A. C. E. "Can Nigerian Local Government Councils Autonomously Impose Rates?" Journal of African Law 47, no. 2 (October 2003): 221–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855303002109.
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Having been elected from the same pool from which state and federal officials have emerged, it might, on the face of it, seem rather unjustifiable to deny local government council (LGC) officials the autonomous tax imposition authority, which is ordinarily inherent in any government. But this is what the 1999 Constitution seems to have done in denying the autonomous power of rating to the LGCs, however, this constitution has used words made ambiguous by their historically varying content such that even the highest Nigerian court has been misled. The drafting has led to the impression that LGCs may “impose”, rather than merely “collect”, rates or any other such taxes by their own authority.This article attempts to discover the character and consequences of this hermeneutic problem, the apparent misconceptions that have led to it, and the doctrinal and historical approaches the courts may adopt for its solution. In trying to appreciate or rationalize the court's misapprehension of this part of the constitution, the article suggests that the major reason is the drafter's attempt to create a three-tier federation while at the same time retaining the traditional two-tier constitutional structure for allocation of federalist power.To return the courts to the right path, this article proffers historical approaches for clarification of the conceptual haze. It then concludes that, although the Nigerian constitution allows a delegation of rating power to LGCs, contrary to the current position of the Supreme Court, this rating authority is not autonomous.
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Isokpan, Aisosa Jennifer, and Ebenezer Durojaye. "The Child's Right to Basic Education in Nigeria: A Commentary on the Decision in SERAP v. Nigeria." African Journal of International and Comparative Law 26, no. 4 (November 2018): 639–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/ajicl.2018.0252.
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This case note focuses on the justiciability as well as the impact of corruption on the realisation of the right to basic education. Through an assessment of the decision of the ECOWAS Court in SERAP v. Nigeria, it emphasises the role of states in ensuring that corrupt activities of government officials or third parties do not affect the enjoyment of the right. It equally emphasises the role of the Nigerian courts in ensuring a justiciable right to education.
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Onyejegbu, Chukwuemeka Dominic, Emeka M. Onwuama, ONAH ONAH, Celestine Chijioke, John Thompson Okpa, and Benjamin Okorie Ajah. "Special Courts as Nigerian Criminal Justice Response to the Plight of Awaiting Trial Inmates in Ebonyi State, Nigeria." International Journal of Criminology and Sociology 10 (July 14, 2021): 1172–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2021.10.136.
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This study looks at how using special courts can provide succor to the plight of awaiting trial inmates in Ebonyi state, Nigeria. The study adopted quantitative and qualitative research methods, with a sample of 1,498 respondents comprising 617 police officers, 623 awaiting-trial inmates, 113 court staff, and 145 prison officers drawn from Ebonyi State. Purposive and Multi-stage sampling techniques were used to reach the respondents. The quantitative data was descriptively analyzed using percentages and charts, while a thematic method of analysis was employed in the qualitative data. The findings revealed that, while there has been an uptick in awaiting trial problems, there is no meaningful provision to address them, despite the existence of provisions within the Nigerian legal framework. The article calls for the creation of special courts that are equipped to address peculiar crime cases in a more effective and faster manner. These courts are better poised to address the peculiarities of special cases and pass better and faster judgments.
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DALY, SAMUEL FURY CHILDS. "THE SURVIVAL CON: FRAUD AND FORGERY IN THE REPUBLIC OF BIAFRA, 1967–70." Journal of African History 58, no. 1 (February 8, 2017): 129–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021853716000347.
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AbstractOver the course of the Nigerian Civil War (1967–70), many people in the secessionist Republic of Biafra resorted to forgery, confidence scams, and other forms of fraud to survive the dire conditions created by Nigeria's blockade. Forgery of passes and other documents, fraudulent commercial transactions, and elaborate schemes involving impersonation and racketeering became common in Biafra, intensifying as the Biafran government's ability to enforce the law diminished. Using long-neglected legal records from Biafra's courts and tribunals, this study traces the process by which deception emerged as a practice of survival in wartime Biafra – a process with important implications for the growth of fraud (known as ‘419’ after the relevant section of the Nigerian criminal code) in reintegrated postwar Nigeria.
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Nwafor, Anthony O. "Enforcing Fundamental Rights in Nigerian Courts – Processes and Challenges." African Journal of Legal Studies 3, no. 1 (2009): 1–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/221097312x13397499736787.
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AbstractFundamental rights provisions have continued to feature very prominently in the successive constitutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The enforcement procedure, however, remains identical to the one provided in 1979, in the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules. The parliament has remained aloof to these obvious realities of the procedural complications. Social, political and economic factors have continued to constitute the greatest hindrances to the citizens' desire to seek redress for the infringement of their rights. This article evaluates the provisions on fundamental rights in the Nigerian constitution, and considers the extent of enforceability under the rules and jurisdiction of courts as provided in the constitution. Alternative dispute resolution may be the panacea for the legal and economic hindrances on rights enforcement. Recommendations are accordingly made for the government to facilitate and encourage the citizens to have recourse to mediatory process in less difficult cases.
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Elegido, J. M. "Void Assessments to Income Tax in Nigeria." Journal of African Law 32, no. 1 (1988): 44–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855300010214.
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Many Nigerian decisions in tax cases have firmly established the possibility of raising the defence of lack of jurisdiction in the assessment in an action for recovery of tax. This development has resulted from decisions of the courts and has led to a significant shift from the practice in the U.K. There— aside from the possibility of applying in rather exceptional cases for judicial review—the consideration of any issues, whether of fact or of law, as to the merits of an assessment is confined to appeals before the Commissioners with further appeal to the High Court on points of law. This apparently technical difference has had great practical importance. Recourse to the courts for the purpose of tax recovery has become more difficult for the Revenue and this has encouraged the development of extra-judicial methods of tax collection.A study of those Nigerian decisions that have established, extended and applied this doctrine, and of its consequences, should be of interest in other anglophone African countries. The income tax statutes of many such countries are basically similar due to their common descent from a “Model Ordinance” prepared in the U.K. in 1922. Decisions of the Nigerian Courts on the construction of provisions of the Nigerian tax statutes are of persuasive authority in other Commonwealth countries with similar provisions in their own tax enactments.This paper first provides a broad outline of the Nigerian legislation on tax assessments, appeals and collection in order to facilitate the understanding of the points discussed later.
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Ogbuabor, Chukwunweike A., Damian U. Ajah, and Anthony O. Nwafor. "Aliens' Acquisition of Land in Nigeria: An Incursion into the Evolving Jurisprudence." African Journal of International and Comparative Law 29, no. 1 (February 2021): 154–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/ajicl.2021.0355.
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Sovereign nations generally exert control over land within the individual nation's boundaries. This is done for a variety of reasons including the political and economic. There is nothing wrong with that as the essence of sovereignty lies in exclusivity. Economic considerations, however, demand some level of relaxation of government control on land for investment purposes to galvanise development. Such relaxation of control is usually entrenched in the enabling law that regulates land administration. Nigeria has witnessed such regulatory land instruments operated in different regions of the country from the colonial regime until the unifying Land Use Act of 1978. The Nigerian courts' interpretations of the provisions of that Act have continued to attract controversy, not least the recent Supreme Court decision in Huebner suggesting that aliens cannot hold interest in land in Nigeria. The article dissects that decision, highlighting the social and economic implications with inferences drawn from cognate jurisdictions, arriving at the conclusion that the Supreme Court could not be right in its interpretation of that piece of Nigerian legislation and that the social and economic implications of such decisions cannot be underestimated.
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Jimoh, Mujib Akanni. "Advancing Online Dispute Resolution in Nigeria: Current Opportunities, Legal Challenges and the Ways Forward." Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy (The) 11, no. 2 (March 18, 2021): 407–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jsdlp.v11i2.6.
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The outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted the Nigerian legal system with the introduction of virtual court hearing. Currently, there is no legislation on virtual court hearings in Nigeria. The foregoing notwithstanding, this article examines the constitutionality of this type of hearing and its practicability under the extant laws. Virtual court had been discouraged because of the concern that it may not pass the test of public trial, which is constitutionally guaranteed. This article analyses the provisions of the Constitution as well as available case laws, which suggest that if certain requirements are met, virtual courts may pass the constitutional test of publicity of trial. It is also submitted that the virtual court will not offend the law on territorial jurisdiction. Nonetheless there are some legitimate concern about the issue of evidence, especially examination of witnesses, which may not be best suited for virtual court. Among these are technological inadequacy necessary for virtual court hearings in Nigeria leading to recommendations arising from practices in other jurisdictions.
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Itanyi, Nkem. "Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights in Nigerian Courts." Law and Development Review 11, no. 2 (June 26, 2018): 627–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2018-0032.
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Abstract There is no point in making comprehensive provisions for the protection of various intellectual property rights without also providing a corresponding comprehensive system for enforcing the same when the rights are or about to be infringed. Therefore, an accessible, sufficient and adequate system/procedure is paramount in any worthwhile intellectual property system. Right holders must be granted means to enforce their rights just as is obtainable in other forms of tangible and intangible properties. To this end, all intellectual property systems need an effective judicial system that is empowered to deal with both civil wrongs and criminal offences while being presided over by adequate number of judges with the requisite experience in intellectual property law. This paper therefore examines: the raison-d’être for protecting intellectual property rights; the various enforcement mechanisms via the courts; sanctions and remedies for infringement of intellectual property rights amongst other incidental matters. The paper concludes with a call for the review of the sanctions for infringing intellectual property rights.
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Nwapi, Chilenye. "International Treaties in Nigerian and Canadian Courts." African Journal of International and Comparative Law 19, no. 1 (March 2011): 38–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/ajicl.2011.0003.
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Okafor, Obiora Chinedu, and Basil Ugochukwu. "Inventing Legal Combat: Pro-Poor “Struggles” in the Human Rights Jurisprudence of the Nigerian Appellate Courts, 1999–2011." African Journal of Legal Studies 7, no. 4 (February 23, 2014): 429–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/17087384-12342054.
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This article deals with the question whether the jurisprudence of Nigeria’s appellate courts has helped advance or impede the struggles of the poor to assert their human rights in the country. The article begins by defining, delimiting, and situating the concepts “struggle” and “human rights as struggle.” It then moves on to identify and discuss the factors that make the struggles that the poor and the subaltern must wage to realize their human rights a tough one. Following this discussion, the article turns its attention to its main focus, i.e., an analytical examination of the ways in which the corpus of human rights jurisprudence of the Nigerian appellate courts has either aided and/or inhibited the struggles of the poor and the subaltern in that country during the period under study. The latter discussion is sub-divided into two segments: the first is focused on the engagement of these courts with the pro-poor struggles of Nigerian Labour, while the second is devoted to an analysis of the attitude of the courts to other kinds of pro-poor human rights struggles in Nigeria. In both cases, given space and other constraints, only small but representative samples of the relevant cases are discussed.
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Bertram, Daniel. "Transnational Experts Wanted: Nigerian Oil Spills before the Dutch Courts." Journal of Environmental Law 33, no. 2 (March 1, 2021): 423–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jel/eqab008.
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Abstract This analysis recapitulates the Hague Court of Appeal’s decisions in a series of lawsuits brought by Nigerian farmers against Dutch oil giant Shell. The ruling upholds Shell’s civil liability for the pollution ensuing from several oil spills and has been widely hailed as a blueprint for similar claims before European courts. Beyond these headlines, the judgment charters unexplored legal territories and elicits burning questions about judicial and environmental expertise in complex transnational settings. I propose a three-pronged analysis to cut through this complexity. First, the case deals with the international ‘anchor’ jurisdiction of Dutch courts over claims against foreign defendants. Secondly, the ruling marks a significant contribution to the jurisprudence on tort liability across corporate structures. Finally, the verdict sheds a new light on the interplay between environmental rights and tort actions. The confluence of these three perspectives projects a kaleidoscopic vision of environmental liability across borders.
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Medvedieva, Maryna. "Jurisdictional issues in the Ogoni case." Law Review of Kyiv University of Law, no. 3 (November 10, 2020): 332–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.36695/2219-5521.3.2020.60.
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The article analyzes the Ogoni case, which combines several high-profile lawsuits in the courts of Nigeria, the United States, theNetherlands, the United Kingdom, the African Commission on Human Rights, and the Court of Justice of the Economic Communityof West Africa. Practical issues related to the jurisdiction of states are covered, namely, extraterritorial jurisdiction, universal jurisdictionin civil matters, ‘piercing the corporate veil’, ‘forum shopping’, doctrines ‘forum non conveniens’, ‘forum necessitatis’, etc. The Ogonicase demonstrated the diversity and complexity of jurisdictional issues at the national and international levels. Although in terms ofjurisdiction the courts of Nigeria were the most appropriate forum to bring an action in this case, due to the inefficiency of the Nigerianjudicial system, the plaintiffs appealed to other jurisdictions. The Wiwa and Kiobel cases before the US courts can be considered asexamples of an attempt, albeit unsuccessful, to implement the extraterritorial application of US national law and to apply the principleof universal jurisdiction in civil tort cases. US courts have denied the plaintiffs’ claims under the ‘forum non conveniens’ doctrine andrefused to apply extraterritorially the American tort law to corporations located and registered in other states. In the Akpan case, theDistrict Court of the Netherlands refused to ‘pierce the corporate veil’, but the Court of Appeal ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear thacase concerning both Shell and the Nigerian subsidiary. In the Kiobel case, which is also before the courts of the Netherlands, an alternativebasis for jurisdiction was used – ‘forum necessitatis’. In the Okpabi case, the British courts have so far refused to recognize theirjurisdiction. It should be noted that the Wiwa and Kiobel cases concern the liability of Shell and SPDC for human rights violations,while the Akpan and Okpabi cases concern the civil liability for environmental damage. The above proceedings in national and internationalcourts are a clear example of ‘forum shopping’. The case was considered by the African Commission on Human Rights, whichrecognized its jurisdiction despite the absence of domestic remedies exhaustion, and by the West African Economic Community Court,which recognized its jurisdiction to hear the case under the African Charter as well as international covenants on human rights.
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Medvedieva, Maryna. "Jurisdictional issues in the Ogoni case." Law Review of Kyiv University of Law, no. 3 (November 10, 2020): 332–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.36695/2219-5521.3.2020.13.
Full textAbstract:
The article analyzes the Ogoni case, which combines several high-profile lawsuits in the courts of Nigeria, the United States, theNetherlands, the United Kingdom, the African Commission on Human Rights, and the Court of Justice of the Economic Communityof West Africa. Practical issues related to the jurisdiction of states are covered, namely, extraterritorial jurisdiction, universal jurisdictionin civil matters, ‘piercing the corporate veil’, ‘forum shopping’, doctrines ‘forum non conveniens’, ‘forum necessitatis’, etc. The Ogonicase demonstrated the diversity and complexity of jurisdictional issues at the national and international levels. Although in terms ofjurisdiction the courts of Nigeria were the most appropriate forum to bring an action in this case, due to the inefficiency of the Nigerianjudicial system, the plaintiffs appealed to other jurisdictions. The Wiwa and Kiobel cases before the US courts can be considered asexamples of an attempt, albeit unsuccessful, to implement the extraterritorial application of US national law and to apply the principleof universal jurisdiction in civil tort cases. US courts have denied the plaintiffs’ claims under the ‘forum non conveniens’ doctrine andrefused to apply extraterritorially the American tort law to corporations located and registered in other states. In the Akpan case, theDistrict Court of the Netherlands refused to ‘pierce the corporate veil’, but the Court of Appeal ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear thacase concerning both Shell and the Nigerian subsidiary. In the Kiobel case, which is also before the courts of the Netherlands, an alternativebasis for jurisdiction was used – ‘forum necessitatis’. In the Okpabi case, the British courts have so far refused to recognize theirjurisdiction. It should be noted that the Wiwa and Kiobel cases concern the liability of Shell and SPDC for human rights violations,while the Akpan and Okpabi cases concern the civil liability for environmental damage. The above proceedings in national and internationalcourts are a clear example of ‘forum shopping’. The case was considered by the African Commission on Human Rights, whichrecognized its jurisdiction despite the absence of domestic remedies exhaustion, and by the West African Economic Community Court,which recognized its jurisdiction to hear the case under the African Charter as well as international covenants on human rights.
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Ncube, Caroline B., and Desmond O. Oriakhogba. "Monkey Selfie and Authorship in Copyright Law: The Nigerian and South African Perspectives." Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal 21 (December 13, 2018): 1–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2018/v21i0a4979.
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A photograph taken by a monkey is in the centre of a copyright claim in the famous monkey selfie case in the United States of America. Suing as next friend of the monkey, named Naruto, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals contended that copyright in the photograph belongs to the monkey as author of the photograph since the monkey created the photograph unaided by any person. On the motion of the defendants, the case was dismissed by the US district court on the ground that the concept of authorship under US Copyright Act cannot be defined to include non-human animals. The dismissal order was confirmed by a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeal of Ninth Circuit a request for an appeal before a panel of eleven judges of the appellate court was denied. This paper reviews the case in the light of the concept of authorship and ownership, with specific focus on the authorship of photographs, under the Nigerian Copyright Act and South African Copyright Act. In so doing, it examines and relies on Ginsburg's six principles for testing authorship to test the authorship of photographs under the Acts. It also relies on the concepts of subjective rights and legal personality to explain the implication of conferring copyright ownership on non-human animals. It argues that for authorship of and ownership of the copyright in a photograph to be established under the Nigerian Copyright Act and South African Copyright Act, a legal person must have created the photograph. Consequently, for the purposes of argument, the paper proceeds on the assumption that the monkey selfie case originated from Nigeria or South Africa. After analysing relevant statutory provisions and case law, the paper finds that the Nigerian Copyright Act and the South African Copyright Act do not envisage the conferral of authorship in particular, and copyright protection in general, to a non-human animal. It then concludes that the courts in both countries would not reach a different conclusion from the one made by the US courts.
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Enabulele, A. O. "Implementation of Treaties in Nigeria and the Status Question: Whither Nigerian Courts?" African Journal of International and Comparative Law 17, no. 2 (September 2009): 326–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/e0954889009000425.
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Okon, Emmanuel E. "The Environmental Perspective in the 1999 Nigerian Constitution." Environmental Law Review 5, no. 4 (December 2003): 256–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/146145290300500403.
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Environmental degradation is bound to increase as long as human population increases and new technologies are invented. In order to arrest the problems of environmental degradation, a number of approaches have been adopted. Among such approaches are the integration of environmental protection policies into development programmes, enactment of comprehensive legislation on all segments of environment and the inclusion of environmental provisions in the constitutions of most countries. Unfortunately, while some countries make their constitutional provisions on environment enforceable, others do not. In Nigeria, indirect environmental provisions were first made part of the constitution in the 1979 Constitution. In 1999, direct environmental provision was entrenched in the 1999 Constitution. Unfortunately, Chapter II of the 1999 Constitution, which contains the environmental provisions, is unenforceable. While the Nigerian courts have done nothing tangible to enforce the provisions of the constitution on environment, on the other hand, the Indian courts have taken positive steps to enforce provisions of the Indian Constitution on environment. In conclusion, apart from other suggestions made, it is strongly recommended that Nigerian courts should emulate the efforts made by Indian courts to enforce provisions of the Indian Constitution on environment. The world has moved far away from the era when it was believed that the only rights which a government is called upon to guarantee and protect are the natural rights of man. By living in nation-states and in organised communities, man has acquired new rights, which are now regarded by many civilised countries as just as inalienable as those rights with which nature endows him at birth. The right to education and work are among such rights. Increasingly important in some countries is the addition of the right to a decent and healthy environment to these newly acquired rights.1
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Cottrell, Jill. "The Work of a Nigerian Magistrate's Court." Journal of African Law 29, no. 1 (1985): 25–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s002185530000560x.
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Judicial statistics are frequently non-existent, or at best patchy, in developing countries. This note contains some very basic information—of the sort that in some places one might well find in published statistics—about the cases dealt with by a magistrate's court in Zaria, in one of the northern states of Nigeria during a six-month period in the early 1970s.The purpose of the study was to try to find the answers to some very elementary questions about the functioning of this part of the legal system such as: what sorts of cases were courts of this type trying? how long did the cases take? what were the outcomes? how many accused persons had lawyers and did this make any difference to the outcome? The period in question was chosen as the most recent six-month period; there is, so far as I am aware, no reason to suppose it to have been in any way exceptional, although naturally enough the nature of the cases may well have been affected by police activity, for example a more than usually extensive vehicle document check or a crack-down on Indian hemp (marijuana). As we shall see, the Chief Justice had been urging courts to try to keep down the prison population, which may have had an impact on the granting of bail and the proportion of custodial sentences imposed.
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Okoli, Pontian N., and Chinedum I. Umeche. "Attitude of Nigerian courts to illegally obtained evidence." Commonwealth Law Bulletin 37, no. 1 (March 2011): 81–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03050718.2011.548140.
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Nwabueze, Remigius N. "Equitable Bases of the Nigerian Land Use Act." Journal of African Law 54, no. 1 (March 4, 2010): 119–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855309990192.
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AbstractDo the terms of the Nigerian Land Use Act permit the application of equitable principles to transactions under it? More particularly, could equity be used to enforce null and void transactions under the Act? Although the Supreme Court answered these questions in the negative in Ajilo, other decisions of the Supreme Court, as well as some sections of the Act itself, suggest that the Act is not incompatible with equitable principles. Nor is it contrary to public policy to enforce null and void transactions under the Act through the intervention of equity. Two relevant equitable concepts are resulting and constructive trusts. While constructive trusts have found some fertile soil in Nigerian equity jurisprudence (despite the discordant tune in Ajilo), Nigerian courts seem to struggle with the principles of resulting trust. This article suggests that resulting and constructive trusts are proper instruments for the interpretation and application of the Act and that Ajilo should be overruled.
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Attah, Michael. "Divorcing Marriage from Marital Assets: Why Equity and Women Fail in Property Readjustment Actions in Nigeria." Journal of African Law 62, no. 3 (September 19, 2018): 427–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855318000207.
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AbstractApplicable statutes give Nigerian courts discretion to achieve fairness in marital property readjustment. Ironically, the courts’ approach has often been to adjudicate on the basis of formal title, resulting in a general failure to make any readjustments. This article offers two alternative explanations for this judicial behaviour: absence of a specific statutory marriage-centred definition of matrimonial property; and the courts’ failure to appreciate the implicit matrimonial property regime revealed by a perspicacious interpretation of the statutes. These factors lead the courts to exercise a title-finding jurisdiction instead of an adjustive one. This conservative approach results in the courts exercising an exclusionary prescription of property. These flaws ignore the socio-cultural underpinnings and environment of marriage that support patriarchy in Africa and generally “disable” women in relation to property rights. Sample court cases support this thesis and underscore the need for a statutory definition of matrimonial property, with marriage as its denominator.
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Olatoye, Kareem, and Abubakri Yekini. "Sifax v. Migfo and Limitation Laws in Nigeria: Triumph of Pragmatism over Formalism?" African Journal of International and Comparative Law 28, no. 4 (November 2020): 577–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/ajicl.2020.0340.
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The recent pronouncement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in Sifax & Ors v. Migfo & Anor reveals the desirability of a pragmatic as against a formalistic approach to Nigerian limitation laws. This article critically examines Sifax and seizes the opportunity to flag up the inadequacies in the extant limitation laws in Nigeria. The article argues that a total overhaul of the limitation laws is long overdue as they are not only old-fashioned and ambiguous but also produce undesirable results. It predicts that it is very unlikely that any legislative intervention may be witnessed in the nearest future. Therefore the article suggests that the courts must continue to fill the gaps by a pragmatic interpretation of the laws within the bounds of the general policy objectives of the limitation laws. It advocates comparative judicialism as a useful methodology to achieve this task.
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Garba, Ahmed Salisu. "Freedom of Religion and Its Regulation in Nigeria: Analysis of Preaching Board Laws in Some States of Northern Nigeria." Brill Research Perspectives in Law and Religion 1, no. 4 (January 24, 2018): 1–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/24682993-12340004.
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AbstractThe re-enactment of religious preaching board laws to regulate religious preaching in some states of Northern Nigeria generated debates between Government on the one hand and religious/human rights groups on the other. This research examines the Preaching Board Laws of Kano, Borno and Kaduna States in Northern Nigeria through the prism of the Nigerian Constitution and other democratic norms that relate to the right to freedom of religion in all democratic orders. It applies argumentative methodology to raise and analyse the following questions: how reasonable and justifiable are these religious preaching board laws in a democratic Nigeria?; what gave rise to the enactment of these laws in the states under study?; what judicial review mechanism would be employed to determine their reasonableness and justifiability in a democracy?; how do they accord with the freedom of religion clause in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? The research establishes that some of the provisions of these laws are inconsistent with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and, by extension, international freedom of religion norms operating in all democratic orders. Second, Nigerian courts have not developed suitable balancing mechanisms for resolving conflicts between the right of the state to regulate and citizens’ right to freedom of religion otherwise called the two competing rights, in the light of which the research calls for the amendment of the laws to accord with the provisions of the Constitution and international freedom of religion norms acceptable in all democracies. The paper further recommends a harmonised proportionality test or judicial standard of review based on Nigeria’s religion-state relations and local experience for the use of courts, legislators and administrative agents coming face to face with this type of conflict in their official capacity.
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Mujuzi, Jamil Ddamulira. "Private Prosecution in Nigeria under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015." Journal of African Law 63, no. 2 (June 2019): 225–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855319000184.
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AbstractPrivate prosecutions have been part of the Nigerian legal system for a long time. In 2015, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) came into force. The ACJA provides for, inter alia, circumstances in which a person may institute a private prosecution. In this article, relying on jurisprudence emanating from Nigerian courts before the ACJA came into force, the author suggests ways in which Nigerian courts could approach the right to institute a private prosecution under the act. To achieve this objective, the author discusses: the right to institute a private prosecution; locus standi to institute a private prosecution; and measures to prevent abuse of the right to institute a private prosecution.
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Oba, Abdulmumini A. "Juju Oaths in Customary Law Arbitration and Their Legal Validity in Nigerian Courts." Journal of African Law 52, no. 1 (March 20, 2008): 139–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855308000065.
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AbstractTraditional oaths play decisive roles in customary law arbitration and are recognized and accorded due respect by the courts. This position is now threatened by four emerging factors. First, all customary law arbitrations (including those based on juju oaths) are now subjected to stringent conditions before the courts will enforce them. Secondly, there are discordant voices in the Supreme Court on the legal relevance and juristic value of traditional oaths. Thirdly, in August 2005, the gruesome activities of some shrines where juju oaths are administered in some Igbo communities were exposed in the mass media. This exposure has given traditional oaths a bad image. Lastly, the onslaught of Islam and Christianity is taking its toil on traditional oaths. There is the need to protect traditional oaths from these threats.
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Weimann, Gunnar J. "An Alternative Vision of Sharia Application in Northern Nigeria: Ibrahim Salih’s Hadd Offences in the Sharia." Journal of Religion in Africa 40, no. 2 (2010): 192–221. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157006610x500865.
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AbstractAfter Islamic criminal law was introduced in northern Nigeria in 1999/2000, sentences of amputation and stoning to death were handed down by Sharia courts. Within a short period of time, however, spectacular judgments became rare. Given the importance of religion in northern Nigerian politics, this development must have been supported by influential Muslim scholars. This article analyses an alternative vision of Sharia implementation proposed by influential Tijaniyya Sufi shaykh Ibrahim Salih. He calls for a thorough Islamisation of northern Nigerian society, relegating the enforcement of Islamic criminal law to the almost utopian state of an ideal Muslim community. In this way he not only seeks to accommodate the application of Islamic law with the realities of the multireligious Nigerian state but also tries to conserve the unity of Muslims in the face of a perceived threat for Nigeria’s Muslims of being dominated by non-Muslims in the country.
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Odujirin, Kemi. "“Ill-Legal” Constraints on the Exercise of Administrative Disciplinary Powers in Nigerian Law." Journal of African Law 34, no. 2 (1990): 128–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855300008263.
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Can a domestic tribunal or an administrative disciplinary committee try a person for a criminal offence? The answer is clearly no. But can such a tribunal, in the exercise of its disciplinary powers, try a person for misconduct even though the acts amounting to such misconduct are in the nature of criminal offences? The Nigerian Supreme Court has given a negative answer to this latter question. The aim of this short article is to show that the answer puts “ill-legal” constraints on the administrative disciplinary powers of such tribunals.The history of the problem dates back to 1968. In Denloye v. Medical and Dental Practitioners' Disciplinary Tribunal, counsel for the plaintiff raised the issue of the competence of a disciplinary tribunal to try a person for acts alleged to amount to infamous conduct in a professional respect where the acts were in the nature of criminal offences. Although the court did not consider the issue, it nevertheless observed (in the typical fashion of regarding English law as a palimpsest of Nigerian law) that the practice under the English Medical Act, 1956 which was that allegations of unprofessional conduct in the nature of offences were not dealt with under the Act in the first instance but were left to the courts, and, after conviction, disciplinary actions would follow, was the intention in Nigeria.
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Nwauche, ES. "The Dubious Distinction between Principal and Accessory Claims in Nigerian Human Rights Jurisprudence." Journal of African Law 52, no. 1 (March 20, 2008): 66–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s002185530800003x.
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AbstractWhat began as an exercise in defining the jurisdiction of the Nigerian Federal High Court over fundamental human rights has now turned into a well established principle that Nigerian courts will not entertain an action for the enforcement of a fundamental human right contained in chapter IV of the 1999 constitution through the Fundamental Human Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules unless it is the principal claim. In other words, if the action for the enforcement of a fundamental human right is an accessory or subsidiary claim, the action must be started by a writ of summons. This article demonstrates that this distinction is dubious, irrelevant and impossible to make, and leads to a miscarriage of justice.
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Oshio, P. Ehi. "The Land Use Act and the Institution of Family Property in Nigeria." Journal of African Law 34, no. 2 (1990): 79–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855300008238.
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The Land Use Act, 1978 is, indeed, a “giant-killer”. In the recent case of Savannah Bank of Nigeria Limited and Another v. Ammel Ajilo and Another a learned Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria seized the opportunity to indict a doyen of the Nigerian Bar for a seeming misapprehension of the revolutionary effect of the Act on the land tenurial system of the country. But we hasten to point out that the Act is not the problem child only of the Bar, for the Bench is not free from the same misapprehension for which this learned gentleman of the Bar was indicted. Indeed, there is mounting evidence from the conflicting opinions of our courts on the Act that the latter is the “Achilles' heel” also of the Bench. One glaring instance: while the Supreme Court in recognition of group holdings under customary law conceded communal title to a right of occupancy under the Act to a community in the case of Chief S.U. Ojeme and Others v. His Highness Momodu II and Others the Court of Appeal expressed the contrary view in the subsequent case of L.S.D.P.C. and Others v.
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Musah, Oyakemeagbegha. "Journalism practice and application of the contempt of court principle in the Nigerian judiciary." EJOTMAS: Ekpoma Journal of Theatre and Media Arts 7, no. 1-2 (April 15, 2020): 470–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ejotmas.v7i1-2.32.
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The people’s right to know is a cardinal feature of democratic governance. In the judiciary, the right to know presupposes an open justice system where judges are expected to adjudicate without concealments. As authentic information purveyors in society, the press and the judiciary need collaboration to achieve openness in justice administration and satisfaction of the people’s right to know.Consequently, this paper explores the relationship between Nigerian judges and journalists vis a vis Nigeria’s Chief Judge’s recent directive to the bench to apply “contempt proceedings” in members’ interactions with “wanting” journalists, and the people’s right to know. The paper assessed judges’ professed preconditions for journalists’ presence in court and practical experiences of journalists in Nigerian courts. It identifies a depreciation of values in justice administration behind this morally repulsive relationship between the bench and the press and calls for urgent redress.
Keywords: Journalism practice, Prejudice, Contempt of court, Justice administration, Judiciary
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Frynas, Jedrzej George. "Legal Change in Africa: evidence from oil-related litigation in Nigeria." Journal of African Law 43, no. 2 (1999): 121–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021855300011311.
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There has been a significant rise in litigation between oil companies and those affected by oil operations in Nigerian courts. In the period 1981–86, 24 compensation claims against Shell went to court in Nigeria. In early 1998, Shell was reportedly involved in over 500 pending court cases in Nigeria, out of which 70 per cent, or roughly 350 cases, dealt with oil spills, the other 30 per cent, or 150 cases, dealt mostly with other types of damage from oil operations, contracts, employment and taxation. In the whole of the 1980s, Chevron reportedly had only up to c. 50 court cases in Nigeria. In early 1998, Chevron was involved in over 200 cases, of which 80–90 per cent, or roughly 160–180 cases, dealt with oil spills, other types of damage from oil operations or land acquisition for oil operations. This substantial increase cannot be solely ascribed to expanding oil operations. There are various indications that an increase in the quantity of oil-related litigation was accompanied by legal change. In the 1990s, a number of high profile cases have been won by the local people in the oil-producing areas, notably Shell v. Farah, in which c. 4.6 million Naira (c. US$210,000 according to the official exchange rate) was awarded as damages to the plaintiffs.
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Obafunwa, John Oladapo, Oluwatomi Ajayi, and Mathias I. Okoye. "Medical evidence and proof of cause of death in Nigerian courts." Medicine, Science and the Law 58, no. 2 (January 30, 2018): 122–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0025802418754576.
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Medical evidence has continued to be given and evaluated in Nigerian courts since Nigeria’s independence from Britain. The attitudes of the courts have been largely varied against a background of the individual judge’s appreciation of forensic science and who should be considered an expert witness. The prosecution and defence lawyers equally display limited knowledge of forensic science. This paper reviews some of the decided cases, the reasons for the verdicts, forensic concerns and recommendations for the improvement of the criminal justice system. There is need to improve the knowledge base of the bar and the bench.
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Hart, Christopher. "The Nigerian elections of 1983." Africa 63, no. 3 (July 1993): 397–418. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1161428.
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AbstractIn 1979 Nigeria's military government held the first general elections for fifteen years. The politicians then resumed power under a republican constitution. The National Party of Nigeria, a conservative coalition, narrowly won the elections from four other parties and virtually controlled the next elections in 1983. There were five election rounds: for the President, for nine-teen state governers, for the Senate, for the House of Representatives and for the state assemblies. Increases over the 1979 vote in the presidential round indicated some rigging. Results in the following rounds were incredible. The root cause was northern reluctance within the National Party to honour an agreement to a southern presidential candidate at the next elections in 1987 and southern competition for the 1987 nomination. After the elections the courts failed to redress the rigging and the President to purge corrupt Ministers. The military then overthrew the government and resumed control.