LEGAL SYSTEM

The Nigerian legal system is based on the English common law legal tradition by virtue of colonization and the attendant incidence of reception of English law through the process of legal transplant. According to Obilade (1979) English law has a tremendous influence on the Nigerian legal system, and “English law forms a substantial part of Nigerian law”. The sources of Nigerian law are:

·                         The Constitution

·                         Legislation

·                         English law

·                         Customary law

·                         Islamic law, and

·                         Judicial precedents.

Constitution

The current constitution is the 1999 Constitution and it is available online here: http://www.nigerialaw.org/ConstitutionOfTheFederalRepublicOfNigeria.htm The 1999 Nigerian Constitution came into operation on May 29, 1999.

Legislation

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 regulates the distribution of legislative business between the National Assembly, which has power to make laws for the Federation and the House of Assembly for each State of the Federation. The current legislation in force at the federal level is largely contained in the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 (LFN). Laws made after the 1990 law revision exercise of the federal laws are to be found in the Annual Volumes of the Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Federal laws under the Military, known as Decrees, and state laws, known as Edicts, form the bulk the primary legislation.

Each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja has its own laws. Some states have in recent times undertaken law revision exercises to present their laws in a compact and comprehensive form to guarantee easy access. Most of the pre-1990 Decrees were incorporated into the LFN and those patently incompatible with the new constitutional order were repealed on the eve of the inauguration of a new democratic government in May 1999. Primary and subordinate legislation in force on the coming into operation of the Constitution are treated by the Constitution as existing laws and deemed to have been made by the appropriate legislative body with competence to do so under the 1999 Nigerian Constitution. Legislation has been described as the most important source of Nigerian law. This is partly because all other sources of Nigerian law are considered as such by virtue of a piece of legislation or the other.

English Law

This consists of:

(a) the received English law comprising:

                 (i) the common law;

(ii) the doctrines of equity;

(iii) statutes of general application in force in England on January 1, 1900;

(iv) statutes and subsidiary legislation on specified matters and

(b)English law (statutes) made before October 1, 1960 and extending to Nigeria which are not yet repealed. Laws made by the local colonial legislature are treated as part of Nigerian legislation. The failure to review most of these laws especially in the field of criminal law has occasioned the existence of what may be described as impracticable laws or legal provisions which are honored more in breach than in observance. Despite the influence of English Law, the Nigerian legal system is very complex because of legal pluralism.

Customary Law

The traditional classification of customary law is into the following categories:

·                         Ethnic/Non-Moslem

·                         Moslem law/ Sharia

In the states in the Southern part of the country, Moslem/Islamic law, where it exists, is integrated into and has always been treated as an aspect of the customary law. Since 1956, however, Islamic law has been administered in the Northern states as a separate and distinct system. Even then it has only been in relation to Muslim personal law. However, it is better to accord Islamic law its distinct status as a separate source of law because of its peculiarities in terms of origin, nature and territorial and personal scope of application.

Ethnic / Non-Moslem Law

The ethnic customary law is the indigenous law that applies to the members of the different ethnic groups. Nigeria is made up of several ethnic groups each with its own variety of customary law. Customary law is a system of law that reflects the culture, customs, values and habits of the people whose activities it regulates. It has been described as a mirror of accepted usage. Customary law is particularly dominant in the area of personal and family relations like marriage, divorce, guardianship and custody of children and succession. Naturally, differences in the customary laws of different ethnic groups do exist and this must be taken for granted. Even within an ethnic group, instances of pockets of differences in aspects of customary law are noticeable. For example, the marriage customs and inheritance rules of the Ibos of the South Eastern Nigeria are different from those of the Yorubas of the South Western Nigeria. Beyond this the customary values and systems of various Yoruba sub-ethnic groups are bound to be different even if they are in the same State. Unfortunately, ethnic customary law is unwritten, uncertain and difficult to ascertain. It is flexible and has the capacity to adapt to social and economic changes without losing its character. There have been instances of legislative interventions to modify and at times abrogate rules of customary law. Customary law is usually enforced in customary courts, the courts at the lowest rung of the hierarchy of courts, which in most cases are presided over by non-legally trained personnel, though higher courts are equally permitted to observe and to enforce the observance of rules of customary law by their enabling laws. It is to be noted the bulk of causes on the Cause List of customary courts, especially in South Western Nigeria, are matters relating to the dissolution of traditional marriages.