A Guide to Nigerian Legal System

The Nigerian Legal System is based on English Common Law because Nigeria was a British colony for more than 100 years since it became a British protectorate in 1865. The extent of such English law presently applicable in Nigeria is the same as in the United Kingdom at independence in 1960. Although many statutes made by the British parliament, and by the British parliament before independence, have been repealed, and mostly replaced by equivalent Nigerian laws, there is a residual application of the pre-1960 English law to Nigeria, and also post-independence English statutes that have been passed in the UK and applied to Nigeria. The Customary Laws of various ethnic groups that existed before colonisation, and Sharia Laws of the Muslims that existed before colonisation, are also part of the Nigerian law applicable today . They have been integrated with the English law so that the principles of these customs and laws that are not inconsistent with the English law remain applicable unless the legislature has expressly codified the custom or law. The Nigerian constitution sets out the jurisdiction of the courts to apply such customary and Islamic Laws and to administer justice. The Constitution and Statutes are read together with the rules to form Nigerian law. Judicial precedents are derived from case law obtained from the decisions of judges, which law is therefore updated and develops with new decisions that amend or repeal prior judicial decisions.

The Constitution of Nigeria

In 1999, Nigeria adopted a new Constitution that provided for a civilian government and increased autonomy for the states. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is repeal no 24 of 1999. It was signed into law on 5 May, 1999. The Constitution has been amended by Act No 21 of 2004. The Constitution constitutes the supreme law of the land. It also makes provisions for a separation of powers among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. The three branches of government must act independently of one another.
The federal legislature is a bicameral assembly made up of the National Assembly and the House of Representatives. The National Assembly consists of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who is elected as head of state and commander-in-chief of all armed forces and the Senate which comprises elected representatives from all the states and the Federal Capital Territory. The position of the Attorney General of the Federation differs from that of the Minister of Justice. The Attorney General is not a member of the Council of Take Ministers (cabinet), however the Attorney General reports directly to the President.

The Courts in Nigeria

The Nigerian judiciary is a well-recognised and established judicial system. The courts interpret and make laws in the country. They adjudicate on civil and criminal matters. Judges in the court system are appointed by the President of Nigeria in accordance to the Federal constitution. The hierarchy of the courts in Nigeria are as follows: The Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, FCT High Court, Sharia Court of Appeal, Customary Court of Appeal, Federal High Court, National Industrial Court, Federal Capital Territory Courts, Customary Courts, Sharia Courts, Magistrate Courts, and District Courts. The Supreme court is the highest court in Nigeria established under section 230 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The appeal court has appellate jurisdiction to hear appeals from the Court of Appeal and the lower national courts (Federal High Court, National Industrial Court, Federal Capital Territory courts, Customary Courts, and Sharia Courts). The Supreme Court also has original appellate jurisdiction over any issue that involves the interpretation or application of the 1999 Constitution to the country and suits regarding the election of the president and vice-president of the country. The Court of Appeal in Nigeria is established under section 237 of the 1999 Constitution. It hears appeals from the Supreme Court and all other lower courts in Nigeria. The Court of Appeal has appellate jurisdiction over the Federal High Court, the National Industrial Court, the Federal Capital Territory Courts, the Customary Courts, and the Sharia Courts. There are exceptions to its jurisdiction in tax matters, election petitions and any other matters as prescribed by the Constitution. The decisions of the Court of Appeal are binding on all the inferior courts in the country. The Federal High Court is established under section 251 of the 1999 Constitution to adjudicate on matters relating to the economy, finances, taxation and other matters as specified by the Constitution. It hears all matters arising from the constitution, appeals from the decision of lower courts and tribunals, as well as admiralty and intellectual property matters. There are Federal High Courts in all the 36 states of Nigeria, including the FCT. Its decision is binding on all inferior courts to the Federal High Court except for the Supreme Court. The National Industrial Court is established under section 254C of the 1999 Constitution to adjudicate and enforce the civil and commercial rights of equity and justice in employment matters. It is established as a court of record under section 254K (1) of the Constitution to decide on labour, employment, and related matters in the country. This court has exclusive original jurisdiction to hear matters arising from the trade disputes under the 2004 Trade Dispute (Amendment) Act. The Federal Capital Territory Courts, Customary Courts, and Sharia Courts are the inferior courts in the territory designated as the Federal Capital Territory. The high courts in the Federal Capital Territory have jurisdiction on civil and criminal matters under the Constitution. They are also designated as Family Courts under the MOJ (Family Court) Rules of 2015. The Customary Courts deals with customary laws and practices in respect of the rights, duties and liabilities under African customary law not incompatible with the provisions of the Constitution. It also has jurisdiction over adoptions, custody, guardianship, succession to a deceased estate, and minors. The jurisdiction of the Sharia Courts is limited to Islamic personal law, law of inheritance, and the constitutionality of the organization of Muslim law in Nigeria. Among all the courts of Nigeria, the highest court in the land is the Supreme Court as the court of final jurisdiction with reference to appeals in both civil and criminal matters. The interpretation of the Constitution and laws in the country lies on the Nigeria Supreme Court.

The Criminal Justice System

Criminal law under the Nigerian legal system is essentially codified in two distinct codes. The Penal Code is essentially applicable to the northern region of Nigeria while the Criminal Code is mainly applicable to the southern regions of Nigeria.
The Commission of Offences
Cap 17 of the Laws of Northern Nigeria provides a comprehensive definition of what constitutes a crime in its enactment of the Penal Code. It defines the term ‘offence’ as being any act or omission punishable under the provisions of the Penal Code as an ‘infraction, a misdemenour or a felony’.
The Penal Code in relation to the Commission of Offences essentially states that any person who:

• abets, counsels or is accessory to the commission of an offence or attempt to commit an offence; or
• aids or does any act which constitutes such an offence; or
• attempts to commit such an offence; or
• conspires with another for the commission of an offence; or
• unlawfully obstructs a public servant in the execution of his duty; or
• causes a thing to be done which is constitutive of an offence; or
• takes away, alters or injures any valuable thing which is the property of another, knowing that he should not do so; or
• assists in concealing or disposing of any property stolen or otherwise unlawfully obtained, knowing or having reason to believe that such property is stolen or had been unlawfully obtained, is guilty of that offence and shall be convicted and punished, in the manner provided by the Penal Code, for the offence.

Offences Statutorily Prescribed
The Penal Code provides a catalogue of crimes generally accepted as constituting crimes in many countries. These offences include flouting regulations relating to injuries to persons and others’ possessions, negligent acts, and offences of injury or distress to persons and injury to cause danger to human life or health, etc.
Furthermore, the Penal Code also prescribes cessation to value destructive offences which includes power to cause deprivation of liberty, power to cause harm, power to cause hurt, power to cause fear, power to cause damage, power to destroy or discard.
Criminal Code
The Code provides for offences and punishment therefor from offences relating to treason and treachery, bribery, and corruption to crimes against public tranquillity and public servants. The definition of an offence under the Criminal Code is similar to that of the Penal Code.
The Code essentially confers summary jurisdiction on certain magistrates and courts to administer justice on all offences that are punishable by summary disposition, i.e. with the discretion for fines not exceeding twenty naira or to imprisonment simplicitor – for three months or both.
Offences presently declared summary under the Criminal Code include offences relating to public tranquillity, arms, animals, road traffic, offences under the provisions of the Fire Brigade Functions Act, the Labour Act, the Price Control Act, the Rubber Act, the Factories Act and the Sale of Goods Ordinance.

The Civil Law System and Litigation

Civil law in Nigeria refers to the set of laws governing relationships between individuals or institutions, distinguishing them from criminal law and its remedies. Broadly, this body of law governs disputes ranging from breach of contracts, tortious liabilities, debt recovery, land disputes, probate and administration matters, dissolution of marriage, to child abuse and de-facements. It covers both public and private law.
Contract law in Nigeria is to a large extent governed by the common law principles of contract. Most of the case laws which inform contract law principles are English case laws. A contract under the Nigerian civil law system can be formed when an offer is made by one party to enter into a legally binding agreement with another, accepted by the other party, and some form of consideration is exchanged between both parties to the agreement. The principles governing a breach of contract and the remedies for a breach are discussed in the article below. The Nigerian civil law also defines tort as a civil wrong. A tort is therefore a matter brought to court by a party who has suffered a damage or harm done to them by another party. In this case, damages payable as a remedy to the party aggrieved is meant to compensate him for the loss suffered under the tort of negligence. Additionally, the Nigerian civil law also empowers the High Court under the Administration of Estate Laws (and rules made there under) to appoint administrators to deceased persons’ estate where a probate grant is not deemed fit to be made by the Court. Furthermore, Court Rules made under the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act also empower the High Court to appoint Receivers and Managers over the assets of private corporations and partnerships to preserve their estates until the appointment of a Receiver Manager is vacated by the Court.
Generally, civil suits in Nigeria have to be instituted in the State High Courts which have unlimited jurisdiction to entertain civil matters. However, suits can be filed in any of the various specialized courts established for specific matters . For instance, Child Rights Act, 2003 establishes the Child Rights Courts which essentially has only jurisdiction to adjudicate on cases relating to children.
Essentially, there are two principal categories of civil suits in Nigeria: suits that are determined based on substantive facts of the parties’ cases (tried fully on their merit); and suits that are tried summarily, based on procedural facts (often involving technical arguments). For example, a suit based on a simple claim for debt recovery could be determined summarily without evidence after the failure of the action by the debtor party. These two categories of civil suits are governed largely by the following rules of Court: Each of the rules of Court above prescribes a number of steps designed to enable the parties identify the issues in contention during the trial and also eliminate any possible attempt by either party to stall the proceedings by undue process.
Nigeria being a member nation of the West Africa Economic Community (ECOWAS) is bound by various protocols on commercial dispute resolution between member states. Most notable of the protocols is the ECOWAS Supplementary Act A/P3/12/2003 on Conflict Resolution and the ECOWAS Convention on Commercial Arbitration. Both instruments make arbitration a recognized method of resolving civil disputes under the civil law regime in Nigeria. The Honourable Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State of Nigeria has also issued directives on the establishment of mediation centres in the High Courts of Lagos State. The establishment of a mediation centre within the Lagos State High Court is meant to facilitate amicable extra-judicial resolution of cases involving parties with disputes before the Court. Mediation process in these mediation courts will be guided by the Civil Procedure Rules of the Court and the Practice Directions made by the Honourable Chief Judge of Lagos State aimed at achieving timely and cost effective resolution of disputes by the Court.

The Role of Customary and Religious Laws

Customary laws, if they do not conflict with the provisions of the Constitution or Act of the legislature, are applicable to the personal law (as opposed to commercial law) of Nigerians. There are various tribes and ethnic groups, each with their own custom and traditions which are preserved under the Nigeria Constitution 1999 and applied according to the ethnic origin of the person involved. The Constitution further provides that the Minister may, by an order, preserve any customary law applicable to a particular tribe as the law applicable to that tribe in relation to matrimonial causes and divorce, and to marriageable age, and recognition of marriages. The recognized federal and state legislation in regard to marriage and divorce are the Marriage Act, Marriage (Northern States) Act and Matrimonial Causes Act.
The Sharia Law on the other hand is specific to the North-Eastern region of the Nigeria and applies to Muslims. The Shiite sect differs from the Suni sect in that the former regards secular law as unnecessary. Rather, they contend that certain matters are better dealt with by Sharia law. In the Northern states of Nigeria, there are pronounced differences in the application of the sharia law. For instance in Zamfara, one cannot be sentenced to death in criminal cases whilst under the Suni sect, this could form an infraction. However, on marriage, divorce and inheritance, the Sharia law is strictly applied. The only exception to this rule is that the provisions of the Matrimonial Causes Act (which incorporates English Statutes of General Application) takes precedence over the Sharia law where the parties are Christians or when property is situated outside the Northern region.

Law Reforms and Current Developments

At the turn of the 21st century, Nigeria underwent some legal reforms with the goal of improving its legal system. The enactment of the 1999 Constitution and subsequent amendments; the establishment of specialized courts and tribunals, like the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, (Naicn); the establishment of the Electoral Offences Commission; and the Nigerian Corrupt Practices Commission, were some of the new efforts in this regard. The jury system was also enacted by the Constitution, but has not been imposed in the legal system. On the enforcement of judgments, the Nigerian Supreme Court in Lakanmi v. Aliu 1985 at 743 expressly abolished the out-dated common law practice of feigned issues which constituted a huge clog on the wheel of justice. However, despite these new efforts to improve the legal system, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has been clamouring for further constitutional reforms to remove the Bottle-neck and administrative requirements for litigants in enforcing their rights at law. Consequently, the administration of justice in Nigeria is bedeviled with corruption and poor access to justice for litigants.
Practically, some of the new statutes with their counterpart English statutes are riddled with errors/superfluities (e.g. NSSF Act 2014 and NHSR Act 2007) so much so that they are difficult to enforce in legal practice. Further, the State laws (i.e. laws of the States and the Federal Capital Territory) are often not reported like the federal laws . Laws which are yet to be tested in court or whose constitutional validity is yet to be determined are not readily available to ordinary Nigerians. Worse still is the fact that despite several attempts by Law Libraries, most "High court decisions" are not contained in any single Law Reports for private or public use.
Judiciary corruption is a disturbing plague in the Nigerian legal system. Judicial officers take bribes from litigants to pervert justice against established judicial principles. The NBA has been crying for higher remuneration for judicial officers; however, virtually all states and relevant agencies, e.g. EFCC, have had to bribe judicial officers to uphold the law during trials and while delivering rulings/reasons for judgments in matters relating to corruption. A recent report published in July, 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration tagged a 46.5 percent "crisis of confidence" in judiciary sector generally; and 47.9 percent "wrongful judicial conclusion of criminal matters in favor of the accused person" as the basis of corruption within the judiciary. Human Rights abuses and violations are also rampant in Nigeria. However in spite of these contemporary legal problems, some helpful treaties have been ratified in Nigeria in recent years. E.g. the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC); the United Nations Convention against Torture; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women in Nigeria (CEDAW).