Judicial Attitude Towards Entitlement to Practise Law in Nigeria Vis à vis the Competence of Court Processes Signed by Law Firms

The issue of the propriety or competence of Law Firms in signing Court Processes has assumed an interesting dimension in the Nigerian legal or justice administration system. Court Processes have been thrown out or struck out by the Courts on the basis that they were not properly signed by either litigants themselves or their Legal Practitioners, even where such Processes have been clearly signed by the Law Firms of Legal Practitioners retained by the litigants. While some concerned legal experts have argued that the Courts ought not to strike out a Process signed by a Law Firm on the ground that such action smacks of unguarded adherence to technicalities, some others and indeed the Courts are of the firm view that a Law Firm is not a Legal Practitioner as defined by the Legal Practitioners Act, Cap L11, Laws of the Federations, 2010 and as such, any Process purportedly signed by such a firm is incompetent and liable to be struck out. In this paper, we have examined the position of the law, both extinct and extant, on this burning or topical issue. We have contended that any Suit or Appeal initiated by a Process which is signed by a Law Firm is liable to be struck out, same having not been initiated by the due process of the Law. Thus, we have gravitated towards the extant judicial position that a Law Firm cannot validly sign a Process, in view of the fact that it was not called to the Bar or enrolled by the Supreme Court to practise Law –including signing of Processes – in Nigeria. However, we have also argued that the extant position of the Law should not apply to Processes signed and filed by Law Firms under the now extinct pre - 2007 Supreme Court position. In respect of such Processes, we have recommended a “judicial saving provision”. We have also not failed to criticise some awkward pronouncements by the apex Court as regards the issue discussed in this paper

Submission to the UN Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of all Human Rights by Older Persons on the report on older persons in the context of climate change-induced disasters

This is a submission to the United Nations (UN) Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of all Human Rights by Older Persons. The submission seeks to guide her report to the 78th session of the UN General Assembly on Nigeria, as regards the rights of older persons in the context of climate change-induced disasters

The Fate of Human Rights in a Period of a State of Emergency in Nigeria

This paper examined the constitutional and legal derogations or limitations to which the enjoyment of Human Rights could be subjected, during a period of a State of Emergency. The article explored the legal procedure for declaration of a State of Emergency in Nigeria and the author contended that the current President of Nigeria may have followed the laid down procedure in his recent proclamation of Emergency Rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States. However, the writer queried the legality of the continued presence of the Emergency Rule in the face of the failure to approve, or rather, the belated approval of the Rule by the National Assembly outside the constitutionally stipulated timeframe. The article discussed what human rights are all about, the approaches or schools of thoughts of human rights, kinds or classes of human rights as well as the fundamental human rights of Nigerians as guaranteed under chapter IV of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). The author argued that while citizens are entitled to the enjoyment of their constitutionally enshrined rights, such rights are however not without corresponding duties and limitations especially in situations where public peace or the corporate existence of Nigeria is threatened. The author concluded by arguing that the Nigerian Army, nay the Nigerian Government cannot hide under the canopy of Emergency Rule in the said states to deny citizens of their constitutional rights except where such denial is reasonably justifiable or necessary to carry out the effective operation of the rule while it lasts

Revisiting the Power of Pardon in Pre-conviction Cases: A Critique of Federal Republic of Nigeria v Achida & Anor

In the recent case of Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Achida & Anor. (2018) LPELR 46065 (CA) 23, the Court of Appeal of Nigeria held that the power of pardon, as donated by the Nigerian Constitution, can only be exercised over persons who have been tried and convicted by a competent court. In other words, relying on the constitutional presumption of innocence and the ejusdem generis rule of interpretation, the court reasoned that a person who is presumed innocent until proved guilty cannot be a beneficiary of pardon at a pre-conviction stage. However, drawing on several provisions of the Constitution and other statutes, this paper offers a critique of the judicial decision and calls for a review of the position. The central argument in this paper is that, going by the framing of the relevant provisions of Nigerian laws on pardon, pardon can indeed be granted before, during or after conviction in a criminal trial

HIV/AIDS, The Law and the Human Rights Question: Taming Discriminatory Practices

This article examines the concept of HIV/AIDS and appraises the rights of HIV/AIDS patients, vis-a-vis the workplace and access to medical facilities. It examines the extant position of the law on the rights of HIV/AIDS patients in Nigeria. The paper has also comparatively analysed Nigeria's law and policies with those of South Africa, India and Namibia regarding the rights of such patients. It contends that discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients is unlawful and should be deprecated. It equally canvasses for constitution amendment and/or the enactment of a specific statute to protect the rights of HIV/AIDS patients in Nigeria

Customary Law Arbitration in Nigeria: An Appraisal of Contentious Legal Issues

It is an established fact that disputes and dispute resolution mechanisms have been a recurrent decimal in human society. Customary law arbitration is one of the modes of settling disputes in Nigeria. This paper has examined the concept of customary law arbitration and the peculiar conditions precedent to its validity. The paper also dissected relevant issues relating to corroborative evidence, pleading and proof of customary law arbitration. It examined the issues as to whether a document containing customary arbitration proceedings is a public document that requires certification and whether affidavit evidence can be used to establish the existence of prior customary arbitration over a disputed fact. The authors adopted the analytical research approach wherein relevant statutory and scholarly materials were assembled, analysed and critiqued. The authors have proffered recommendations which, if adopted, would encourage Nigerians to embrace customary law arbitration in resolving disputes

A Refreshing Perspective on the Means of Proof of Contents of Public Documents under the Nigerian Law

The use of credible and admissible evidence, oral or documentary, in proof of a fact in question in any judicial proceeding, is a sine quo non to the success of a case. In the case of documentary evidence, whether private or public, the law requires that same is preferably proved by producing the primary evidence and, in its absence, secondary evidence of varying kinds. With respect to a public document, the means of proving same is, nonetheless, un changed save however, that its exclusive secondary means of proof is by producing a certified true copy thereof. This paper attempts to examine the concept of public documents as a means of proving facts in evidence, its underlining principles and other prevailing trends, including misconceptions, amidst legal authors, practitioners and judicial officers

Nigerian Employees’ Compensation Act 2010: Issues Arising

Apart from motivation of employees in the workplace, another factor that ensures commitment and maximum production in a workplace is the knowledge by an employee that his life is protected against workplace injuries and other hazards that may occur in the course of official duty. An employee, being in the know that there is a social security scheme put in place to address workplace injuries and hazards, is likely to put in his best for his employer. The provision of this social security scheme was the essence of the Workmen’s Compensation Act which was enacted in 1987. However, the Act was largely unsuccessful in meeting the social security objective, and this gave rise to agitations for another statutory intervention. These agitations resulted in the enactment of the Employees’ Compensation Act, 2010. The 2010 Act has made comprehensive provisions for compensation for death, injury, mental stress, occupational disease and other hazards arising in the course of employment. However, since the enactment of the Act, some issues have arisen in the course of interpretation and application of the Act which may likely hamper a smooth and successful operation of the Act. The objective of this paper, therefore, is to appraise these issues. The writers adopt analytical approach with the use of statutes, case law, textbooks, journal articles and Internet materials. At the end, the writers found that, though the 2010 Act made laudable improvements in the employees’ compensation dispensation, there are still a lot of shortcomings that need to be addressed via a statutory intervention. The writers then recommend amendment of the relevant Nigerian labour statutes to correct the statutory lapses highlighted in the paper

The impact of COVID-19 on the socio-economic rights of older persons in Africa: The urgency of operationalising the Protocol on the Rights of Older Persons

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world, it has been reported that older persons have suffered acute hardship and fatalities more than any other age group. According to the World Health Organisation the fatality rate among older persons is five times the global average, and the United Nations has predicted that the mortality rate could climb even higher. The situation is aggravated on the African continent as a result of a shortage of medical personnel and other resources, as well as inadequate palliative measures to address the issues around the pandemic. Despite the provisions in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa which seek to provide some safety nets, many of these senior citizens continue to suffer untold socioeconomic hardship. Adopting an analytical and doctrinal methodology, this article examines the Protocol, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and several United Nations policy documents aimed at realising the socio-economic rights of older persons. The article finds that there is a lack of political commitment to operationalise the provisions of the Protocol, as evinced by the limited number of countries that have ratified it since its adoption in 2016. It comparatively engages with the provisions of the Inter-American Convention on the Rights of Older Persons to argue that, beyond the normative framing of these rights in Africa, there is a need for deliberate and genuine commitment by governments in Africa, if the rights are to be realised. The article advocates international, regional and national cooperation and calls for a more liberal judicial approach, to ensure that the Protocol’s ‘paperisation’ of the rights of older persons does not lead or continue to lead to their pauperisation